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AUTHOR: 


HARWOOD,  WILLIAM 
SUMNER 


TITLE: 


LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF 
AUSTIN  CRAIG 

PLACE: 

NEW  YORK 

DATE: 

[C1908] 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

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nr     II      III     .  : — : ——^^^mmm^-^^m^^m^i^mm^^^mmmimm^l^mmmfmmt^m^ 


92 


Harwood,  William  Sumner,  1857-1908. 

Life  and  letters  of  Austin  Craig,  by  W.  S.  Harwood  ... 
introduction,  and  reminiscences  of  Antiocli  college,  by 
Edward  Everett  Hale.  New  York,  Chicago  [etc.]  F.  H. 
Revel  1  company  f  1908] 

3  p.  1.,  5-394  p.    front.,  plates,  ports.,  fold,  facsims.    21J"".         $2.00 


Biblioi^raphy  p.   389-391. 

1.  Craig,  Austin,  1824-1881.  i.  Hale,  Edward  Everett,  1822-  I  "^  O^ 


Library  of  Congress  ^-- »  '    (Copyright    1908    A  225987) 


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LIFE  AND  LETTERS 
OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


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1 


Life  and  Letters 
Of  Austin  Craig 


By  W.  S.  HARWOOD 

Author  of  "  New   Creations  in  Plant  Life^ 
''The  New  Earth''  etc. 


Introduction,  and  Reminiscences  of 
Antioch  College 

By  EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE 


New  York         Chicago         Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London       and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,    1908,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


/ 


I 


^z^ery  life  has  a  lesson— not  so 
much    m    tts   external  events  as 

changes.     It   would  be  useful  to 
kno-w  zn  some  cases,  what  agen- 
cies have    conspired  to   produce 
tltc    particular    development    of 
character     before     us; -what 
books  have  given  a  turn    to  the 
thoughts,— what  influences  have 
wrought  for  good  or   for  ell 

-Extract from  an  address  by  Austin  Craig. 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  ai  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


PREFACE 

THIS  volume  affords  a  typical  illustration  of  the 
truth  which  now  and  then  through  the  centur- 
ies comes  to  light,  that  the  real  greatness  of 
some  men  is  obscured  during  their  lives  by  the  very 
amplitude  of  their  own  daily  deeds  ;  it  is  not  until  Death 
draws  the  curtain  aside  that  the  real  figure  is  disclotd 

In  the  span  of  his  all  t«o  short  life  whose  chief  activi- 
ties  covered  the  years  from  1840  to  1881,  Austin  Cr2 
came  into  contact  with  and  enthusia^tica  ly  entered  S 
many  stirring  events,  and  he  drew  and  held  to  hTmse^f 
the  friendship  of  many  distinguished  men.  Prominent 
amoug  these  was  Hor.ce  Mann,  the  corresponderS 
whom  18  given  in  this  volume  and  it  is  believed  win  be 

methods.  Whether  as  college  professor  or  college  nresi- 
dent   instructor  in  a  theological  school  or  founder  atd 

uTTl'y!.  '"'  ''''''  ''^  ""°  '^^t  -^--  not  theobgy 
own  ^LT'-  T  ''''^''^'  ^  ^'"^"^^^  »r  lecturer,  in  Ws 
own  family  circle  or  the  centre  of  a  brilliant  coterie  of 

Isf  l2rL"°'""^  l'^  ''^  ^'^^  ^'''  nnlettereSt  the 

evTnt    Dr    r™  ■  "71''^'*^""  '^'  *"'°*^t  »'  whatever  the 
Xdi?;e^"i;      "^°"  "  ''^  ^P-  Of  his  own 

He  wa«  an  advocate  of  industrial  and  scientific  train- 

n?  latorat  r.  7'"^"  '^  ""  '  ^'^^^  ^  -t-<^-- 
ing  laDoratory  and  seminar  methods  for  thp  «fi.H^    4^ 

P^chology  and  sociology  and  as  far  JlL  wafthe 

fi«t  to  have  his  students  inspect  penal  and  chlStlbie  Z 


6 


PREFACE 


stitutions  and  devise  ways  for  their  iiuprovement.  He 
was  one  of  tlie  early  advocates  of  equal  privileges  for 
women  with  men  educationally  and  in  church  govern- 
ment and  ecclesiastical  allairs. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  volume  not  only  to  show  some- 
thing of  the  brilliant  and  picturesque  events  contemporary 
with  him,  as  the  ^lillerite  excitement,  one  of  the  strangest 
episodes  in  the  history  of  any  nation,  but  to  show  how  his 
life  fastened  itself  lovingly  upon  other  lives  and  would 
not  leave  them  until  he  had  helped  them.  While  the 
book  treats  of  many  events  having  a  bearing  on  religion, 
and  is  in  fact  a  contemporary  narrative  of  the  great 
dev^elopment  of  religious  liberty  during  these  yeiu\s,  it  is 
by  no  means  a  volume  for  the  chuich  library  alone,  but, 
it  is  earnestly  hoped,  contains  interest  for  any  man  or 
woman  who  loves  to  read  the  story  of  a  life  of  steadfiist 
devotion  to  others. 

A  copious  amount  of  material  was  drawn  upon  in  the 
preparation  of  this  volume,  and  every  new  letter  read, 
every  time- worn  pamphlet  studied,  every  delightful 
literary  find,  every  document  considered,  whether  ecclesi- 
astical or  civil— all  brought  forward  their  evidence.  In 
whatever  direction  one  looked  there  appeared  some  un- 
selfish deed,  some  service  to  another,  some  act  of  self-re- 
nunciation. Preeminently  this  life  was  one  of  service  to 
others  ever  rendered  more  conspicuous  by  a  supreme 
devotion  to  the  Master  of  men. 

The  life  of  Austin  Craig  illuminates  itself.  Looked  at 
from  any  point  of  view,  it  glows  with  a  superb  unselfish- 
ness as  unconscious  as  it  is  rare. 

W.  S.  H. 


CONTENTS 


I. 

II. 

ill 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 


Introduction  . 

His  Early  Life 

College  Life 

The  End  of  the  World 

His  Early  Preaching 

The  First  Charge. 

The  Conference  Address 

At  Blooming  Grove 

Progress  at  Bloomixg  Grove 

Antioch  and  Horace  Mann 

The  Struggle 

The  Capitulation  . 

Antioch  Under  Consideration 

Antioch  Under  Dr.  Craig 

A  Letter  from  a  Man's  Heart 

Meadville  and  New  Bedford 

The  Christian  Biblical  Institute 

The  Culmination  of  a  Life-Work 

The  Man 

L\  THE  Sight  of  Others 

His  Scholarship 

•         •        • 

Writings  of  Austin  Craig,  D.  D. 

Index 


II 

21 

33 

54 
68 

86 

112 

125 

153 
169 

189 

214 

242 

272 

288 

304 
321 

337 
356 

374 
389 
393 


i 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


1 


Austin  Craig 



Moses  Craig,  Father  of  Austin  Craig,  with  His  First 

VjRANDCHILD  . 



Rachel  Carhart  Craig,  Mother  of  Austin  Craig 

The  Early  Home  of  Austin  Craig,  Peapack,  New  Jerse/ 

Austin  Craig  when  a  Student  at  Lafayette  College 

Pen  and  Ink  Sketch  of  Lafayette  College  in  1843 

The  Blooming  Grove  Church 

Horace  Greeley  Letter  Reproduced  in  Facsimile  . 

The  Blooming  Grove  Parsonage   ... 

Adelaide  Churchill  Craig,  Wife  of  Austin  Craig'         [ 

Horace  Mann 

X.  ^  

t-DWARD  Everett  Hale 

Antioch  College,  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio        [         [ 
North  Christian  Church,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 
Interior  of  North  Christian  Church  .         .  *         ' 

President's  Home  Christian  Biblical  Institute 
Christian  Biblical  Institute,  Stanfordville,  N.  Y 
Student's  Home   ... 

Mar«uoe  CERr,F,CATE  Reproduced'  m  fIcs.mile      .' 

Dr.  Sarah  McCarn  Craig    .  .  ,  *  * 

Dr.  Warren  Hathaway 

Greek  Letter  Written  by  Dr.  Craip   amh  D.      ' 

IN  Facsimile  .  '  ''''^  Reproduced 


Facing  page 
Title 


16 
16 

18 

20 

112 

120 
126 
140 
190 
242 

254 
300 

300 

312 

322 

322 

326 

344 
356 
358 


Professor  Edward  L.  Youmans 


386 
388 


^ 


INTRODUCTION 

AUSTIN  CRAIG  consecrated  his  life  to  the  great 
ministry  of  education.     As  teacher,   preacher 
and  writer  his  was  preeminently  a  useful  life 
A   tiuourite  saying  of  his  wiis  that  of  Swedenborg,— 
"  The  Lord's  kingdom  is  a  kingdom  of  uses."     This  idea 
of  usefulness  was  the  key-note  of  his  life,— to  him  service 
to  God  meant  service  to  his  fellow  men.     He  says   "  To 
become  good  by  being  useful,  that  is  what  we  live'  for  " 
He  impressed  me  iUj  a  man  who  exemplified  in  his  life  and 
w-ork  and  in  his  devotion  to  the  truth  very  much  of  the 
blaster  whom  he  served.     He  did  all  unselfishly,  with 
gladness,  with  no  hope  of  reward  save  in  seeing  his 
abour  reach  the  maximum  of  good  to  others.    Such  a 
life  IS  an  inspiration.     I  rejoice  that  the  life  story  of  this 
man  has  been  written  and  pray  that  it  may  continue  to 
teach  the  great  lesson  of  usefulness. 


11 


HIS  EARLY  LIFE 

A  CURIOUS  sense  of  personal  nearness  to  one 
never  seen  in  the  flesh  haunts  one  in  going  over 
the  mass  of  material  pertaining  to  the  life  and 
work  of  the  man  who  is  the  subject  of  this  volume  It  is 
much  a^  though  one  had  known  him  peraonally,  had  come 
under  his  influence,  had  been  impressed  by  his  learning 
and  touched  by  his  tenderness  and  made  broader  and 
more  charitable  and  better  fitted  for  service  by  the  con- 

!!'  /  iTh  '"  "^r?  '"'""'^"'^  ^*^'"  ^^^P^^  *"d  strength- 
ened  by  him  when  he  was  in  the  flesh 

For  the  life  of  Austin  Craig  was  preeminently  one  of 

r;Zd  J,'^°-J,''«-"^'^  --d  a  storyof  gold  cunnTngly 
ama^,  of  ambitions  unscrupulously  gratified,  of  greed 
satisfied  or  lands  ravished,  or  states  stolen,  o^  peoplS 
despoiled,  must  needs  fare  further.  Those  who  would 
read  the  story  of  a  masterly  unselfishness,  of  abslrrl 

nrto  oThei^:;:'  ^f  ^'^'"  "''^•^^°'''^'  °^  ^^^^-^^^  ^f^- 

ness  to  others,  the  story  of  a  broad  and  lasting  impress 

IZslT^^  'f  """^"'  '"^^P--  ^-  and'find  tl" 
pages  tair  to  look  upon 

quesnoD,  one  to  the  answering  of  which  he 


U     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLX  CUAIG 

gave  his  life,  How  uiiiy  1  best,  aud  most,  serve  otliers  t 
Aud  there  be  few  figures  whicli  rise  coloSvSiil  out  of  the 
mists,  or  even  the  clear-air  times,  which  have  not  given 
their  lives  to  answering  some  fashion  of  the  Siime  ques- 
tion. To  lead  others  into  broader  and  fuier  fields,  to  fit 
their  eyes  to  the  nobler  landscapes,  to  lend  an  arm  over 
the  stony  i)laces,  to  strengthen,  uplift,  broaden, — this  was 
his  life  aim. 

Born  in  a  period  when  a  bitter  strife  of  sect  was  reach- 
ing its  culmination  in  a  revolt  against  a  commanding  and 
foiinidable  orthodoxy,  he  w^as  early  possessed  of  the  si>irit 
of  religious  freedom  ;  and  yet,  so  tenacious  of  the  truth, 
he  would  yiekl  no  inch  of  adherence  to  the  vital  integrity 
of  the  Word.  ITe  steered  directly  into  a  dual  current,  so 
to  speak,  one  l)earing  him  towards  a  cruel  (iod  and  one 
towards  a  vapid  CJod,  but  he  overcame  them  both  in  his 
steady  course  to  the  true  God. 

He  not  only  drew  men  by  the  inexorable  logic  of  his 
arguments,  based  upon  faith  and  a  wider  and  deeper 
knowledge  of  the  original  texts  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  than  that  possessi'd  by  perhai)s  any  other 
American  of  his  time,  but  he  attracted  and  held  them  by 
the  charm  of  his  personality  and  the  rare  winsomeness  of 
his  lite.  The  one  faculty  commanded  their  understand- 
ing, the  other  won  their  hearts.  The  one  gave  the 
finished  plans  and  furnished  the  materials,  the  other 
built  with  a  splendid  thoroughness.  He  held  men  with 
the  grip  that  outlasts  life.  Again  and  again  in  the  cor- 
respondence are  found  comparisons  between  him  and 
some  one  of  the  first  disciples  of  the  Christ.  Some 
of  these  letters  were  written  years  ago,  faded  and  tar- 
nished with  time ;  others  are  in  ink  fresh  from  the 
trembling  pen  of  some  old  man  who  knew  him  in  his 
prime.  Curiously  enough,  nearly  all  such  letters  are 
from  men,  men  of  robust  intellectual  life,  practical  men, 


HIS  EARLY  LIFE  15 

not  sentimentalists  nor  mawkish,  men  who  recognized  in 
?evilSn       ^'^''"^"^^^^^  ^^  ^^'^  ^^^  ^^^  supremest  human 

His  college  life,  too,  was  spent  amidst  tremendous  relie- 
ions  excitement  of  quite  another  type.    We  of  a  calmer  day 
may  look  back  with  a  placid  complaisance  or  even  with 
a  iine  touch  of  scorn  upon  such  scenes  as  those  which  ac- 
companied  the  great  Millerite  excitement  which  swept 
up  over  America  involving  not  only  the  densely  ignorant 
but  the  critically  intelligent,  and  we  may  mildly  wonder 
how  people  could  be  such  fools ;  though  perhaps  we  may 
not  need  to  look  far  afield  tx>  find  other  and  even  more 
exasperatingly  illogical  and  stupid  religious  fads.     But 
there  must  have  been  a  tremendous  fascination  in  this 
Millen te    business,  this  end  of  Satan^s  sway  about  to 
come,  the  inrush  of  the  thous^md  years  of  the  mighty 
time  of  the  Christ,  and  all  proven  by  the  saered  text  it 
self  with  due  fidelity  to  day  and  hour.     While  there  is 
nothing   to  show  that  the  young  man  was  other  than 

Zirl(  IT""'"''  '"  '''  excitement,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  to  an  impressionable  mind,  the  wide-spread 
belief,  widely  heralded  and  preached,  that  the  time  of  the 
tempo^^^  reign  of  the  Christ  was  at  hand,  with  more  than 
fifty  thousand  people  believing  it,  many  of  them  selling 
or  giving  away  their  possessions  and  getting  ready  t^ 

th^hts  '"^  ''^'"'^  ''''''''^  ''  ^^^  ^^^^^' 

h^f1^!^f^  '^°''  ^^  '^'^"^  '^^^^-  His  lineage  ran 
back  o  he  Scots  who,  under  King  James  I,  and  loyal  to 
him,   left  Scotland  and  settled  in  the  north  of  Ireland 

aZ  Tf  ^r'r'^'J^  "^^"^  P^^"^^^^  fi^^^^«  «f  ^he  early 
days  of  the  New  World.     Moses  Craig,  his  father,  wi 

b  rn  at  Pe        k,  New  Jei^y,  m  1796,  dying  in  theU^ 

nlrt«  1  "T  ^  "'^^'^  ^'^''  ^^  "^^-  H^  ^^  a  ^an  of 
parts,  a  leader  among  Ms  people,  a  standard  by  which  to 


1 


16    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

measure  other  meu.  He  was  a  teacher  as  a  young  man 
aud  afterwards  a  merchant  and  an  extensive  farmer.  He 
was  twice  chosen  state  senator  of  New  Jersey  and  was 
prominently  mentioned  at  one  time  for  the  governership. 
On  his  death  his  son  wrote  of  him  : 


'*  In  his  seventeenth  year  he  began  to  be  a  school-teacher, 
and  for  several  years  continued  in  the  work  for  which  he  seemed 
specially  qualified  by  his  clear  and  methodical  mind,  his  apt- 
ness to  teach,  his  love  for  children,  and  his  influence  over 
them.  His  lifelong  temperance  and  self-control  gave  him 
working-health  almost  uninterrupted  for  sixty  years.  He  was 
notably  active,  industrious,  persevering,  and  successful  in 
various  undertakings.  He  thought  of  life  as  a  trust.  The 
Master's  charge,  'Occupy,  till  1  come,'  was  often  on  his  lips. 
He  had  a  deep  sense  of  the  value  of  time,  and  was  never  be- 
hindhand. Idleness  and  waste,  his  soul  hated.  His  word 
was  good  everywhere,  and  his  hand  had  help  in  it.  He  loved 
to  meet  men  who  could  do  something  useful,  or  who  knew 
something  worth  knowing.  He  was  gifted  in  social  conversa- 
tion, but  could  hold  his  tongue  as  well  as  any.  Religious 
topics  interested  him  most,  and  his  memory  of  the  ideas  and 
words  of  the  Bible  was  unusually  full  and  exact." 


Rachel  Carhart  Craig,  mother  of  Austin  Craig,  a 
woman  of  strong  mentality,  much  beloved  for  her  sweet 
manners,  her  beauty,  and  her  sprightly  wit,  was  born  in 
Perryville,  New  Jersey,  of  English  ancestry,  in  180L 
Through  her  mother  she  was  directly  descended  from 
Edward  Fuller,  one  of  the  little  Mayflower's  famous  list 
of  passengers.  She,  too,  came  of  strong  stock.  Her 
very  great-grandftither,  Major  William  Phillips,  who  had 
been  major  commandant  of  the  military  forces  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Maine,  had  a  grant  of  land  from  the  Indian  Mogg 
Megone.  Reference  is  made  to  him  in  the  poem  on  Mogg 
Megone  by  Whittier,  together  with  an  explanatory  foot- 


'  •! 


3'^ 


X 


H  X 


\n 


5^ 

ry    . 

u 


HIS  EARLY  LIFE  n 

note  giviug  Major  Phillips  place  among  the  leading  men 
of  he  colouy  a«  a  magistrate  and  a  gentleman.  One 
writing  01  Austin  Craig's  mother  s^i^  s  : 

waltoe  'Ih'i't!/"''  "^r^'ry  "^'^t.  ^vhether  in  sitting  or 
walking,      bhe  had  much  ability,   unusually  good   iudement 

£  hou^  ^sH- '  '"'"°"^-  '"^  '^'^  ^""P"''4  neat'abou; 
ner   house,   nibisting   upon   extreme  cleanliness,   and  neat  to 

stp'iatv  '^She"h"r,  ""  ''""  ^'^  almost' Quake"  sh  n 
of  hir  hJ;  a  ^"^  ^^*"  """^"^'"y  "■ell  educated  for  a  girl 
of  her  day  and  was  especially  anxious  that  her  children  should 

she'  TfLe' th"''°'"'  ^'^^"'^^^-     ^''y  S"^"«  and  rLervet 

had  made  un  ht'  ™'r'''°"  "'^^  ''^'^y  >''^'^'"g'  ^u'  when  she 
naa  made  up  her  mind  on  questions  of  principle,  or  where  her 

children  were  concerned,  she  did  not  waste  time  or  strength  iu 

TZ'.  h!  1"""^  ""''  '"l"^  '"''  '''''  "^-g^'  -  "-y  '^ould 
w^thou  fu  ,  ""r^"""^^  ^T^  'he  right  thing  quickly  and 
without  fuss  She  was  quietly  religious  and  it  was  a  familiar 
sight  to  see  her  with  the  Bible  on  her  knee." 

Quaintly  interesting  is  the  fact  that  the  eldest  daughter 
of  Austin  Craig  now  wears  a  ring,  a  slender  gold  band 
which  IS  a  part  of  the  wedding-ring  worn  by  his  era.  d 
moUier-s  grcat-grandmother,  during  the  historirsS^g 'of 
^ZL  /"  '\'  .'"""  "^  '"«  fe-reat-grandmother  the  ring 

B  un.wick,  New  Jersey,  and  made  over  into  three  rings, 
fht  M         ^"^^  '^  bumptious  fellow  and  was  determined 

tits  hrdi  f  "^^    ^'""^''  ""'  ^'^^  '•««f«*'°«d  from 

t  .8,  he  did  manage  to  engrave  his  own  initials  on  the 

oS cirdr '  "'  '''  ""^'^  ""^'^  •     O"  the  inner  part  of 
each  circlet  were  engraved  the  initials  of  the  three  daugh- 

iow, wiTro?"",  ?.'  ""^'  "*''*'  ^^"^°-     'r*'«  "°g  bas  come 
dovv  ,1  through  the  generations  in  this  curious  fashion. 

P Jk'irV"*''  '"''":  ^"'""  ^'•'•'S  ^a^  born  in  Pea- 
paek,  New  Jersey,  ,n  the  year  1824,  was  not  only  one  of 


18    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

reaiiemt'iit  and  culture  but  one  to  which  came  many 
broadeiiiii;^  and  deepening  intlueuces  from  the  outside 
world.  It  was  then  in  the  days  when  there  were  few  rail- 
roads and  the  home  of  Moses  Craig  became  the  tarrying- 
phice  of  many  famous  ministers  of  the  day,  en  route  east 
and  west.  Presbyterian,  Lutheran,  Methodist,  Baptist, 
were  welcomed  alike  as  bearers  of  the  message  of  Christ 
and  entertained  in  this  hospitable  home,  finding  a  fine 
and  generous  welcome  and  mental  and  spiritual  stimula- 
tion. There  was  no  church  in  the  vicinity,  so  that  often 
the  home  Wius  converted  into  a  meeting-house.  People 
living  near  would  be  notified  of  the  coming  services. 
Frequently  they  would  thus  have  an  opportunity  of  hear- 
ing some  man  of  wide  inttuence  and  great  eloquence. 

Moses  Craig  professed  religion  at  the  age  of  thirteen, 
and  becanu'  a  communicant  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  was  the  church  of  his  ancestors.  Wliihi  a  devout 
man,  he  was  in  no  sense  a  fanatical  one.  He  was  deeply 
religious  but  he  was  just  as  dee^ily  liberal  in  the  nobler 
sense.  He  held  to  his  own  views  tenaciously,  but  he  was 
broadly  charitable  and  tolerant  of  the  views  of  others, 
and  ever  ready  to  accei)t  a  new,  and  better,  setting  of  an 
old  truth.  One  day  it  happened  that  a  sermon  was 
preached  in  his  house  by  a  minister  of  the  Christian  de- 
nomination—Elder William  Lane,  who  came  from  Ohio 
on  a  visit  to  his  kindred  in  Peapack. 


*'Soon  after,"  writes  Austin  Craig  of  the  incident,  "Elder 
Simon  Clough  came ;  and  a  little  later,  Mrs.  Abigail  Roberts. 
These  seemed  faithful  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  him  whose 
house  was  opened  to  their  message ;  but  an  ecclesiastical 
tribunal  pronounced  them  '  heretical  teachers  holding  Arian 
and  Socinian  doctrines.'  And  when  Elders  Clough  and  Lane 
were  brought  to  give  testimony  that  they  did  /lo^  hold  '  Arian 
and  Socinian  doctrines,'  the  tribunal  would  not  permit  them  to 
testify, — but  *  suspended  from  the  communion  of  the  church  ' 


HIS  EARLY  LIFE  19 

the  friend  in  whose  house  they  had  preached.  This  fact  is  not 
mentioned  here  to  call  in  question  the  motives  of  any ;  but  on°y 
to  record  experiences  of  the  past-or  passing-generation""  ^ 


The  fact  that  so  many  men  of  such  diverse  gifts  were 
coustaut  visitors  gave  the  young  lad  unusual  opportuni- 
ties for  broadening-it  was,  in  those  days,  quite  like  hav- 
iiig  travelled  himself  to  be  thrown  in  with  so  many  who 
came  from  such  far  quarters  of  the  land.  It  all  tended  to 
develop,  even  if  unconsciously  to  him,  along  the  lines  in 
wliich  he  afterwards  became  so  conspicuously  successful 

He  was  a  slight,  slender  lad,  not  strong,  inclined  to 
books  rather  than  to  sports,  fitted  by  nature,  by  the  tmin- 

l.vL  f  '.f  *^^J'  '""""^  ^y  ^^^  atmosphere  in  which  he 
lived  for  the  life  of  a  scholar.     It  is  not  shown  that  he 

I^r^  ^  ?^'  f  "y '^"'■'^  i"«""«d  to  be  religious  than  the 
average  lad  who  had  not  so  many  and  such  striking  re- 
hgious  influences  thrown  around  him.  In  fact,  it  was  not 
until  he  was  a  student  in  college  that  he  mad^  any  open 
confes.s,on  of  religion  or  that  he  manifested  other  ttan  a 
very  superficial  interest  in  such  matters.     In   pite  of  all 

coniessed,  were  a  bore  to  him 

did^'a  gretfdeaM  '?  '"''  "^^"^^  '"'  ^^^^'^'"^  ^^  ^oubt 

tiou  hif  L?to"e:rA  i:  ^°''f  T' "'  '""^  •^•^"• 

existed  betwe^  fetw'.  h  P^*^""f' ^  «'»««  relationship 

■iminary  cuTtTvatSn  in  Tr,    """■  ■  ''  "^  ''''  '^^'^f"'  P^^" 
the  bov's^rdln    ?  P'*^'"""  formative  period  of 

tne  Doi  s  life,  coupled  with  the  companionshin  and  ,„H 
lua te  personal  relationship  with  a  man  of^r^  m^M  thll 

'  An"  i  S'f  Ti  '^"  ''''  *^^  ^-^-  »f«  to  -m"       *''* 
bear  u;r  ht' t'Sln'  'TT''^  *^^''^  •'™«^''*  ^ 

toM  that  he  must  notgoinS  a  tZ^ t^    ^la^^^ 


20    LIFE  AND  LETTEES  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

the  house,  but  when  he  saw  the  ducks  swimming  sedately 
iu  the  summer  suushiue  aloug  the  coui-se  of  the  shallow 
brook,  he  could  not  resist  wadiug  in  after  them.  Glee- 
fully following  on  down  the  stream  he  was  suddenly 
thrown  forward  on  his  face  in  the  water  by  a  i)ush  from 
behind.  He  did  not  know  what  it  was  that  caused  him 
to  fall  dounderiugly  into  the  stream,  though  he  did  recog- 
nize the  tirm  hand  drawing  him  out  after  the  father's 
well -planned  object  lesson. 

School  days  passed  rai)idly  by  and  at  an  early  age  he 
was  fitted  for  college.  He  chose  Lafayette  College,  at 
Eastou,  Pennsylvania,  a  well-known  institution  then,  as 
well  as  now.  It  was  a  tall,  thin  fellow  with  a  serious  yet 
kindly  face,  a  face  that  could  show  quickly  the  workings 
of  the  fine  strong  mind  back  of  the  high  white  forehead, 
that  one  day  in  the  autumn  of  the  year  1840,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  years  entered  the  college  where  he  was,  even  iis  a 
boy,  to  exert  so  strong  an  influence  upon  those  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact;  where  he  was  swiftly  to  show  the 
splendid  stuff  of  which  he  was  made,  and  where  much 
was  to  happen  to  lead  him  towards  the  position  he  was 
to  occupy  as  one  of  the  foremost  teachers  and  preachers 
in  America. 


I 


AUSTIN  crak;  when  a  student  at 

LAFAYETTE  COLLEGE 


II 

COLLEGE  LIFE 

COLLEGE  life  in  America  in  1840  did  not  differ 
in  certain  minor  ways  from  the  college  life  of  to- 
day, but  in  many  other  ways  it  differed  radically. 
Even  a  cursory  glauce  at  the  thin  little  catalogue  of 
Lafayette  for  the  year  in  which  he  entered,— the  whole 
catalogue  not  being  as  extensive  as  the  space  devoted  in 
these  days  to  a  single  department  of  one  of  our  larger  in- 
stitutions,-shows  the  marked  difference  between  the  col- 
lege curricula  of  the  two  periods.     The  leaning  was  to  the 
chtssics.     Little,  relatively,  of  science,  as  we  know  the 
term  to-day,  was  included  in  the  course.     To  be  sure 
there  was  not  so  much  science  to  teach  in  that  day  but' 
uotwithstaudiug  this,  the  classics  predominated.     Greek 
and  Latin,  classical  literature,  logic,  intellectual  philos- 
ophy, moral    science,  philosophy  of  rhetoric,  political 
economy,  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, -these 
were  imperative.     Mathematics  were  by  no  means  neg- 
lected,  and  the  course  was  liberal  in  this  respect,  but 
chemistry  does  not  appear  until  the  first  term  of  the 
junior  year.     Lectures  were  given,  " at  intervals,"  in  the 
last  term  of  the  junior  year  and  the  first  term  of  the 
senior,  on  mineralogy  and  geology,  and  on  anatomy  and 
physiology  the  last  term  of  the  senior  year 

Commencement,  cnriously  enough,  did  not  take  place 
until  the  second  Wednesday  in  September.  After  com- 
mencement there  was  a  vacation  of  six  weeks.  The  col- 
lege year  then  began,  consisting  of  only  two  terms.  They 
were  both  of  twenty  weeks,  the  first  one  followed  by  an- 

21 


22    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

other  vacation  of  six  weeks  in  the  spring.  The  second 
term  ran  through  the  smumer  to  commencement  in  Sep- 
tember. 

The  college  life  itself  was  no  less  different  from  that  of 
to-day.  The  college  day  began  at  4:30  o'clock  when  a 
trumpet  was  loudly  blown  throughout  the  halls.  At  five 
it  blew  again,  giving  an  hour's  time  for  study  before  the 
six  o'clock  breakfiist.  The  routine  of  the  day  was  less 
elastic  than  that  of  modern  days.  Discii)line  was  more 
strict  and  pains  and  penalties  awaited  the  student  for 
such  acts  as  would  to-day  be  overlooked  if,  indeed,  they 
would  be  even  noticed,  by  those  in  authority.  In  a  let- 
ter written  in  his  seventeenth  year,— before  he  had  be- 
come converted  to  a  religious  life,  as  one  reference  will 
show,— he  wrote  as  follows  to  his  parents  as  to  the  daily 
routine  : 

"  You  want  to  know  what  I  am  doing  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week.  Why  not  on  the  third,  or  fourth  day?  I  esteem  all 
days  alike.  But,  nevertheless,  1  will  tell  you.  1  get  up  in  the 
morning,  dress  myself,  wash,  comb  my  head,  make  my  bed, 
etc.  Next  read  until  seven  ;  then  attend  prayers  in  the  Col- 
lege Hall  ;  eat  breakfast ;  read  an  hour  and  so  on  until  ten  ;  go 
to  the  Presbyterian  church  ;  get  back  about  twelve ;  eat  dinner 
at  half  past   and    at   two  attend   church   under   the  powerful 

preachmg   of  Cx J .     Get   back   at  four;  attend  Bible 

class  at  four-thirty,  where  the  Greek  scholars  give  the  original 
meanings  of  the  Scriptural   texts   for  an   hour  ;    next    supper, 
then  prayers  and   finally,  to  make  a   long  story  short,  go  to 
bed.     .     .     .     The  room  is  fifteen  by  sixteen  feet  square,  con- 
tains  three  beds,   two  desks,  a  table,  three  chairs,  a  stool,  a 
swill-pail,  a  chest,  two  trunks,  a  small  cupboard,  three  shelves 
containing  about   145   books,  a  wagon-load  of  newspapers  and 
pamphlets  under  the  bed,  a  parcel  of  old  shoes  and  a  number 
of  small  et  ceUras.     Eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping,  I  spend 
about  ten  hours,  oftener  less  than  more,  going  to  bed  at  ten, 
eleven,  twelve,  and  once  at  a  quarter  past  two.     After  lessons 
I  read  Political  Economy,   Mnemonics,   Heathen   Mythology, 
books  of  travel,  histories  and  the  al  Koran." 


COLLEGE  LIFE 


23 


The  outspoken  character  of  the  man-to-be  was  mirrored 
in  the  youth,  as  his  comment  on  the  preacher  at  the 
Dutch  Keformed  service  indicates  ; 

'*  Now  I'll  tell  ye  what  I  think  of  G J ,  D.  D      He 

IS  a  small-bodied  man  but  in  mind  wonderfully  diminutive. 

** '  A  hundred  thousand  such  might  lie 
Wedged  in  a  cambric  needle's  eye.'  " 

Then  quoting  evidently  from  the  same  preacher  he 
says,  together  with  some  boyish  nonsense  : 

*'  'Study  at  all  times  to  know  your  duty  respecting  your 
superiors  Now,  the  study  is  not  very  irksome  because  about 
every  half  hour  our  next  door  neighbour  in  the  third  story 
plays  on  the  fiddle,  •  tickling  the  dried  guts  of  a  mewing  cat  »  ' 
1  have  lately  read  some  in  astronomy.  You  might  probably  be 
surprised  at  the  immense,  and  diminutive,  things  therein  de- 
scribed.    Doctor  Caustic  of  Terrible  Tractoration  memory, 


And 


**  'Discovered  world's  within  the  pale 
Or  tip  end  of  a  tadpole's  tail.' 


<<  ( 


Great  fleas  have  little  fleas. 
Who  have  less  fleas  to  bite  'em; 
Hiese  fleas  have  lesser  fleas, 
And  so  ad  infinitum  ! ' 

And,"  the  youthful  critic  adds,  "it  is  supposed  they  eet  each 
oa.er  to  scratch  their  backs  with  the  jag'g'ed  end  o7a  louse 

Following  this,  sharply  drawn  in  black  ink  with  a  pen 
upon  the  dark  yellow  paper  of  the  letter,  without  any 
intnnluctory  words,  is  a  picture  of  the  buildings  of  Lafay- 

Hh  a  of  the  buildings  as  they  then  stood.  On  the  follow- 
ing page  he  has  drawn  plans  of  the  main  floor  of  the 
college,  all  no  doubt  of  great  interest  to  his  family  who 


24    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

wished  to  know  the  full  details  of  his  life.  He  does  not 
conclude  his  letter  until  he  takes  another  fling  at  the 
preacher : 

"  Oil  last  Sunday  his  sermon  was  on  the  woman  whose  son 
was  caught  up  into  heaven  and  who  fled  into  the  wilderness 
from  the  c  ragon  who  poured  out  of  his  mouth  a  flood.     The 
doctor  explained  the  woman  to  be.the  Church,  the  flood  of  the 
dragon  all  the  means  that  were  used  to  corrupt  a  church   such 
as  a   party  sjoinmg  with   a  sect  of  infidels-such  as  Fanny 
U  right  and  Robert  Dale  Owen  and  their  party,  for  political 
purposes      This    ,s    the   flood,  as  the  doctor  says.  'Hot  and 
stinking  from  the  Devil's  throat,  which  a  wretched  faction  use 
as   the  means  of  political   advancement.'     'Pull  Doctor,  pull 
Devil,    thought  I.     He  further  stated  that  he  rejoices  that  that 
party  was  minus  power  through  the  high-minded  intelligence 
of  an  enlightened  community.  ^ 

"  1  will  take  notes  of  the  doctor's  next  sermon  and  send  you 
1  understand  an  article  is  now  in  type  in  the  office  of  the 
^^as/o^i  Democrat  to  expose  the  Rev.  Doctor.  He  certainly 
deserves  it,  for  it  was  as  complete  a  blackguard  speech  as 
ever  disgraced  the  Hdls  of  Pandemonium.  I  shall  join  the 
l^ranklin  Society  next  Friday  evening.  They  have  the  most 
meinbers  and  the  finest  hall.  They  also  have  a  number  of 
valuable  books  which  the  others  have  not.  The  president  in 
expectant  has  returned  an  answer  to  a  letter  written  him,  ac- 
cepting  the  call  to   preside  over  the  institution.     It  is  plain 

Cy.l'^x  A        '\  ""^"J^  P""  ^^^^"  the  college,  and  the 

Tk  T.u    1  '  ■'"'^^""^  /'^"'  ^'^  l^«^'^^^^^  sermon  last  Sunday.     I 
think  this  line  is  applicable  to  him  :  ^ 

'* '  That  thus  a  worm  of  dust  should  mock  Eternity.'  " 

The  letter,  which  was  written  on  Saturday  evening, 
January  30,  1841,  ends  with  this  postscript : 

YtZT^^^J^A    'Tv,''"'  ^""^^  ^'""   ^"^  "P  ^"^  ^'^  "°^  in 
ple!ise  ''  newspapers  you  were  speaking  of,  if  you 

In  a  letter  written  in  December  of  the  same  year,  he 
begins  with  a  long  and  most  charmingly  written  essay 


^t-^? 


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COLLEGE  LIFE 


25 


on  the  Aborigines  of  America,  the  outcome  of  large  read- 
iug  on  his  part,  thus  giving  the  family  at  home  a  far 
larger  and  clearer  idea  of  the  subject  than  they  could 
have  had  without  access  to  the  books  he  had  studied. 
The  paper  is  illuminated  in  places  by  cleverly  drawn 
reproductions  of  hieroglyphics  accompanied  by  interpre- 
tations of  their  real  meaning,  and  contains  much  inter- 
esting description  of  the  writings  of  primitive  peoples. 
In  the  midst  of  it  he  suddenly  breaks  off  with ; 


"I  have  bought  a  book  called  *  Historia  Grecae.'  I  paid 
five  shillings  for  it.  I  shall  begin  to  read  (Greek)  in  a  few 
days  as  I  am  about  half  through  the  grammar.  I  am  now  in  a 
class  of  five  formed  last  year.  Mathematics  will  soon  come. 
I  am  well.  We  live  as  good  as  may  be.  Breakfast, — fish, 
coffee,  'taters,  etc. ;  dinner, — meat,  water,  molasses,  butter, 
potatoes,  etc.  ;  supper, — mush  and  milk,  or  rice,  etc.  I  ex- 
pect about  half  a  dozen  chaps  will  be  expelled,  as  they  are 
cited    to   appear   before   the    faculty  to   answer  for  going   to 

dancing  school  where  one  of  them  got  drunk,  and  sick.      G 

J says   he  will  vote  for  expulsion.     Should  any  of  the 

faculty  second   the   motion   they  must   go   and  joy  go  with 
them !  " 


In  another  letter  he  writes : 

"Since   my  last   letter   to   you   the   honourable   faculty  of 
Lafayette    College    convened    and    after   mature   deliberation 

agreed  unanimously  to  expel  W ,  H ,  O ,  M 

G- ,  and  G ,  because  they  engaged  in  playing  cards. 

Ihese  six  gentlemen  were  thus  treated  simply  and  solely 
because  they  engaged  in  playing  cards.  The  faculty  agreed 
to  meet  agam  this  week  when  it  is  expected  others  will 
receive  the  same  honour.  As  we  will  read  Caesar  this  week  I 
have  found  it  necessary  to  buy  a  large  Latin  dictionary.     I 

bought  It  of  W ,  one  of  the  gentlemen  expelled,  and,  as  he 

had  no  further  use  for  it,  he  sold  it  to  me  for  $2.  A  new  one, 
I  suppose,  would  cost  $4  or  $5  at  the  least  calculation.  Fur- 
ther, I  got  an  excellent  wash-stand,  bowl  and  pitcher,  for  four- 


26    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

teen  shillings,  new,  costing  last  fall,  $3.50.  The  wash-stand  I 
should  not  have  bought  but  for  its  being  a  very  good  one. 
If  I  stay  here  I  shall  want  one  next  spring. 

"  1  don't  know  what  to  write.  There  is  no  news,  foreign  or 
domestic,  except  that  it  is  rumoured,  and  confidently  believed, 
that  the  Niagara  Falls  were  washed  away  during  the  last  freshet ! 
The  truth  of  this  is  rather  doubted." 


The  habit  of  the  student  had  early  been  fixed  in  the  boy 
by  the  training  he  had  had  under  his  father.  It  became 
natural  for  him  to  work  and  work  hard  in  a  college  period 
when  students  were  not  so  numerous  that  they  could  not 
have  immediate  personal  supervision,  and  when  laziness 
was  tantamount  to  exclusion.  *^  I  was  in  to  Dr.  Yeo- 
mans'  this  mornin<iC,"  he  writes  to  his  father,  *'for  the 
purpose  of  getting  the  grades  of  the  two  back  wrecks. 
They  run  :  first  week  in  languages,  83,  in  mathematics, 
81  ;  second  week  in  languages,  87,  in  mathematics,  92.  I 
do  not  know,^'  he  adds  nut  alt/,  ^' but  1  flatter  myself  this 
is  iis  high  as  any  in  the  class.  While  I  was  in  Dr.  Yeo- 
mans'  room  he  got  to  talking  about  my  leaving  this  class 
for  the  sophomore.  He  Siiys  his  opinion  is  that  at  the 
end  of  the  session  I  might  join  that  class.  He  says  to  do 
the  work  of  three  years  in  two  would  require  considerable 
extra  elVort,  but  he  thinks  it  can  be  done.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  next  session  I  will  then  begin  with  the  soph- 
omores.'^ 

While  ]\ros(^s  Craig  was  a  man  well-to-do  for  the  times, 
he  was  yet  not  an  extravagant  num  and  he  lost  no  favour- 
able opportunity  to  impress  thrift  and  economy  upon  his 
son.  Frequently  in  his  letters  to  Austin  he  would  call 
attention  to  his  expenditures,  not  in  a  faultfinding  way, 
but  rather  to  keep  before  him  the  need  of  care  and  thought 
in  money  matters.  Xo  doubt  this  may  in  part  account 
for  such  an  expression  as  this  from  the  son  in  a  letter 
written  in  November  of  1842  : 


COLLEGE  LIFE 


27 


'*  I  have  now  something  to  communicate  which  I  would  not 
wish  to  have  happened  under  any  circumstances.  I  unfortu- 
nately let  fall  a  tiiermometer  last  iMonday  belon^ng  to  one  of 
the  students  and  broke  the  glass  containing  the^ircury  I 
sent  It  down  to  Philadelphia  and  had  a  new  glass  put7and 
borrowed  $2  of  Mr.  Veomans  to  pay  for  it  which  1  fold  him  I 
would  repay  next  week.  Now  1  should  be  extremely  obliged 
to  you  for  sending  me  $2  next  week  if  you  can.  1  am  very 
sorry  the  thing  occurred  at  all  but  that  will  do  no  good  now." 

While  the  letters  to  the  son  now  and  again  contain  ad- 
monitions,  these  are  not  obtrusively  introduced,  but  only 
a^  by-the-ways,  the  wise  fatlier  knowing  full  well  that  if 
the  sou  were  at  last  to  embnice  religion  it  would  not  be 
as  a  result  of  nagging.  Now  and  then  such  words  as 
these  are  found  in  the  midst  of  matters  of  wholly  dilier- 
ent  import  :  -^ 

-  1  hope  you  will  not  relax  in  duty.     Grow  in  grace  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Chdsf    Be  faith 
ful.     Many  have  their  eyes  turned  towards  you  f  orn'  thi^Se 
tVpllc:  •' "  '^  ^^-H--^^-     Make  you'rself  a^a  ligi^^^^ 

himseinv'"  \r^'"'"   '"""^  '^^°  ^'  ^  ^^y  ^^  withheld 

to  thf rlrL        "^  "'  '"  '''''  ''  ''''''''^^  --  ^-««  i-li"ed 
to    he  rollicking,  care-free  life  of  many  boys,  lie  was  vet 

so    horonghly  genial  and  sincere  he  Ion 'eCe^irody'S 
Inm.     It  was  his  nature  to  seek  the  companionship  of  thos^ 

?n    t^   .      V         '  ^'^^  ^^"^  ^^^'^^^  ^^  became  identified 
^M  h  the  leading  literary  activities  of  the  collet    He 

Tb  o'l ,  'Tm.  nr  T  '"^^  ''  ^^^^^^  appreciation. 
rZZf  ^  ^'^'''  liowever,  runs  a  deep  undercur- 


28    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

less  often  seen  in  the  midst  of  the  sports  of  the  college 
than  in  the  library,  he  was  nevertheless  a  warm  friend  to 
those  who  by  physical  strength  could  engage  in  those 
things  from  which,  through  a  constitution  not  over- 
strong,  he  was  largely  debarred.  The  boy,  like  the  man 
in  later  years,  had  the  splendid  gift  of  character  :  such  a 
character  as  not  only  wins  admiration  but  compells  stead- 
fast regard. 

The  sober  face  of  the  young  man,-albeit  it  could 
swiftly  be  changed  by  the  winsomest  of  smiles— together 
with  a  certain  soberness  of  demeanour  won  for  him  the 
title  of  "Deacon,"  which  clung  to  him  during  all  his  col- 
lege life.  Not  a  few  of  the  letters  to  him  written  while  at 
Lafayette  address  him  as  "My  dear  Deacon."  One  of 
these  from  his  lifelong  friend,  R.  J.  Wright,  a  fellow 
student,  is  written  from  PhiUulelpliia  and  is  addressed  to 
"My  Deacon."  In  it  he  indulges  in  some  college  boy 
nonsense,  making  humorous  allusion  to  Austin's  length 

and  leanness. 

In  all  literary  matters  he  early  took  a  deep  interest  and 
a  prominent  part.     He  was  sought  after  for  appearance 
on  society  programmes  and  did  not  fail  to  justify  the  ex- 
pectations  of  his  friends.     On   all  public  occasions,  in 
fact   in  which  his  class  took  a  part,  he  was  in  constant 
deniand.     Says  one  friend  of  the  time,  ' '  Lafayette  College 
enjoyed  a  reputation  for  thorough  scholarship  and  the 
most  bigoted  religious  intolerance.     I  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Austin  Craig  in  his  third  college  year,  at  the 
time  of  his  conversion,  and  I  should  say,  from  my  recol- 
lections of  his  orations,  addresses,  and  essays,  that  his 
attainments  and  scholarship  were  not  overshadowed  even 
in  that  excellent  school ;  for,  as  I  remember,  he  gener- 
ally   if  not  always,  represented  his  class  at  commence- 
ment and  on  other  occasions."     The  college  made  its 
impress  upon  the  young  man,  too,  an  influence  which  re- 


COLLEGE  LIFE 


29 


niained  with  him  through  all  his  later  years.  He  never 
lost  his  interest  in  his  faithful,  if  sometimes  dogmatical 
and  even  domineering.  Alma  Mater,  and  he  ever  recog- 
nized her  sterling  qualities  of  mind  and  heart.  In  1865 
he  wrote  in  response  to  an  invitation  to  attend  the  com- 
mencemeut  exercises  of  Lafayette  : 

"I  find  myself  so  pressed  for  time  that  I  must  neglect  much 
that  under  other  circumstances  would  have  great  claims  upon 
me.     I  had   looked   forward  with  great  pleasure  to  this  com- 
mencement of  Lafayette,  and  especially  to  the  prospect  of  meet- 
ing again  my  old  classmates  and  friends  of  college  days  whom 
I  have  not  seen  since  we  were  boys  together  on  your  hill. 
•     •    .•  „  "°"'''  ^  ''»''  '°  be  present  with  you,  I  beg  you  to  ex- 
press to  President  Cattell  and  the  faculty  n,y  sincere  wishes  for 
the  success  of  Lafayette  in  training  up  multitudes  of  young  men 
for  usefulness  and  happiness;  and,  to  any  old  friends  who  may 
speak  of  me,  I  beg  you  to  say  for  me  that  I  ciierish  the  memory 
ot  the  days  and  scenes  m  which  we  were  once  united  at  La- 
fayette, as  among  the  most  pleasant  and  precious  that  a  bounti- 
ful providence  has  given  me  to  enjoy.     Some  of  those  olden- 
time  associations,  especially  those  in  which  our  friendships  as 
fellow  students  were  exalted  by  our  communion  as  feUow  Chri^ 
tians,  were  so  happy  to  me  that  I  could  think  nothing  happier 

01  tne  wor  <i     and  in  heaven,  to  share  the  lot  of  those  who  see 
the  Father's  face  and  serve  His  perfect  will  with  perfect  heart.'' 

Ten  years  later,  responding  to  a  similar  invitation,  he 
renewed  his  allegiance  in  these  words  : 

airand^o^.h'lT'lK^  "'*'  '^^'' '°  "^^  honoured  Mother  of  us 
re  m£s   I  d.,i    ^^'■'"  assembling  in  the  Society  and  Alumn 
fa  hers  I'ni  1?',?  •"  ^""^^  ''^  y°"  affectionate  greetings  to  the 

me  uelaware,  we  had  not  nearly  so  many  at  La- 


30     LIFE  xiND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

fayette,  all  told,  as  you  have  now  in  one  class.  We  rejoice  in 
ther>e  good  days  for  Lafayette ;  though  it  would  make  us— who 
are  now  fifty  years  old, — feel  the  more  lonesome,  perhaps,  to 
see  a  single  class-room  containing  more  than  Aaron's^  trumpet 
soundetl,  when  college  classes,  Model  school,  and  the  Coloured 
Theological  class  (of  one  person),  all  came  together,  either  to 
sup  in  the  middle  basement,  or  to  attend  prayers  before  day- 
break, in  the  old  chapel  under  the  Society  Halls.  Congratula- 
tions to  the  President  and  Professors,  and  to  the  younger 
brethren,  who  see  and  enjoy  these  better,  brighter  days  !  The 
blessing  of  God  be  still  with  'Lafayette,'  and  His  grace  with 
those  who  go  forth  from  her  to-day,  and  who,  to-day,  after 
many  years  of  absence,  return  to  her." 

For  three  years  he  continued  at  Lafayette.  Then,  with 
the  desire  to  preach  the  Gospel  burning  within  him,  he 
left  the  institution  without  taking  liis  degree.  In  1844 
he  returned  again  and  resumed  his  labours,  taking  up 
regular  and  post  graduate  work,  and  received  his  degree 
of  Master  of  xVrts. 

On  my  desk  as  I  write  these  lines  lies  a  faded,  mil- 
dewed letter,  stained  and  worn  with  time,  broken  in  its 
creases,  which  may  be  unfolded  only  with  great  care.  In 
it  is  the  crux  of  a  young  man\s  life.  It  tells  of  that  point, 
reached  some  time  or  another  in  the  life  of  every  man 
and  woman,  when  they  stand,  as  one  might  say  without 
irreverence,  in  the  presence  of  the  Most  High,  vaguely 
catching  glimpses  of  the  Intinite.  It  is  a  place  of  the 
parting  of  the  ways,  where  men  stand  face  to  face  with 
their  own  souls.  It  needs  no  aigument  to  prove  snch 
moments  come  :  on  the  decision  which  road  to  follow  has 
depended  through  all  the  centuries  since  the  Christ  the 
fate  of  men,  indeed  the  fate  of  nations  and  the  Church. 
For  one  of  these  roads  leads  into  a  life  consecrated  to  the 
cause  of  God  and  man  ;  the  other  leads  to  the  elevation 

'  Reference  is  here  made  to  one  Aaron  H.  Hoff,  of  Easton,  who  blew 
a  tmmpet  at  4:30  o'olock  every  morning  to  arouse  the  students. 


CX)LLEGE  LIFE  31 

of  self  with  all  its  attendant  train  of  pains  and  pen- 
alties.  "^ 

The  letter  was  written  on  a  Thursday  night,  in  the 
sohtude  of  a  college  boy's  room,  just  before  the  coming 
of  Chnstmiis  m  the  year  1842.    In  it  the  boy  and  the  man 
meet,  grope,  see  each  other,  and  pass  on ;  the  boy  dies  and 
the  man  is  enthroned.   The  letter  was  the  outcome  of  strng- 
gle.     It  tells  of  victory.    Beared  as  the  boy  had  been  in 
the  midst  of  constant  religious  activity,  he  had  yet  reached 
CO  lege  age  without  any  interest  in  religious  matte,^ 
much  less  with  any  intention  of  devoting  his  life  to  the 
cau.se  of  religion.     In  the  letter  which  islidressed  t^  hi^ 
parents  and  sister,  written  in  the  beautiful  copperplate 
^and  which  distinguished  him,   boy  and  man^'^^^d  t 

stilted  form  of  correspondence  of  the  day,  he  tells  of  a 
meetn,,.  ,e  l.vs  had  with  a  converted  sailor  who  ha.  g^ven 
up  the  sea  become  identified  with  the  Church,  fitted  for 
college  and  is  now  in  the  midst  of  his  college  coZ  ft 
H  cunously  interesting  the  way  in  which  thl  boHhoS 
igio  s  trS  h?  '"'r  ^"^^  *^^"^  applicatL';:'^ 

s^tilor  friend  wj;tead!t„r^'/'^™"°'^'"«^  "^««<«  this 

.-,s.eets^i:t;r^^^^^^ 

invites  him  to  his  room  where  tho  1-,  '  ^"^^^ 

eaniestly  for  the  con.^r^oZ  t  iienS  '''''  '"""^  ^"^ 

nexfjunXSwi^rbif;  Tf  *^"^ '^''°°*-     ^^  ^^- 
lie  goes  to  ciurch  for  th    «  Tl^^'^'P^  "^  '^^  '^^  truth 

I'gious  exercises  held  any  interest  for  I  '°  T^*''^  »«- 
t-e,"  the  boy  in  him  quaintly  Ss"  sfnc'e' I  'J"* 
years  of  understanding,  in  which  I  en„,^  f  ,  "^"^  ^* 
was  perfectly  happy."  *'°"''^  ^'''^^  ^ay  that  I 


32     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

In  a  second  section  of  the  letter  he  addresses  bis  sister 
personally.  The  spirit  of  the  evangel  came  quickly  upon 
him.  *^  If  you  have  not  before  this  come  to  the  Saviour/' 
he  writes,  *Met  me  entreat  by  everything  you  hold  dear, 
by  your  present  hope  of  happiness,  and  iis  you  value  your 
soul's  eternal  welfare,  to  do  so  now.  ...  If  you 
would  have  us  all  meet  at  the  right  hand  of  God  at  the 
great  Day  of  Judgment,  I  entreat  you  to  come  to  the 
Saviour  ;  He  alone  is  able  to  take  away  your  sins.  .  .  . 
If  you  become,  as  I  trust  you  will,  an  humble  follower  of 
Christ,  you  will  see  everything  in  a  new  light.  Things 
which  you  may  now  look  upon  as  trifling  will  then  ap- 
pear far  different ;  the  smalhst  transgression  will  then  ap- 
pear great  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  sin  against  God.'^ 

Such  an  exhortation  under  such  circumstances  within 
three  days  of  the  old  life,  coming  from  one  still  a  boy  in 
years,  is  not  less  remarkable  than  the  announcement  with 
which  the  letter  closes,— how  little  the  boy  dreamed  then 
how  his  hope  would  be  fulfilled  : 

*'It  now  appears  to  me  to  be  a  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
and  I  intend,  God  helping  me,  to  do  so.  I  hope  He  may 
make  me  an  instrument  in  His  hand  of  doing  much  good  to 
my  fellow  beings." 

A  noble  life  consecrated  to  every  noble  aim,  a  steadily 
widening  influence,  reaching  far  out  beyond  the  thousands 
who  came  in  personal  contact  and  ever  broadening  unto 
and  beyond  this  present  day,  a  large  and  splendid  scholar- 
ship, an  absolutely  unselfish  and  devoted  life, — all  built 
upon  three  lines  of  a  faded,  time  stained  letter,  so  worn 
by  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century  of  life  thtit  it  safely 
fohls  back  into  the  broken  creases  with  the  utmost  diffi- 
culty ; — it  is  a  letter  to  be  cherished,  the  herald  of  a  life 
without  whose  ministration  the  world  must  have  suffered 
irreparable  loss. 


Ill 

THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD 

IT  was  during  the  college  course  at  Lafayette  that  an 
event  of  national  interest  reached  its  culmination  - 
the  world  was  to  come  to  an  end  in  1843      At  in 
tervuls  through  the  centuries  since  Christ,  men  had  arisen 
who,  from  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  fr^m 
porfons  of  the  New,  were  able  to  select  a  dat^  whenT 
the.r  judgment,  the  second  coming  of  the  Saviour  wouW 
*'"d   the  present  era.     Various  views  were  held  Is    o 
whether  the  final  Day  of  Judgment  would  come  at  the 

end':;'rt'h?'""'r  "'^""^ "'«"  "p°"  '"^^^^^^  --'  tt 

uul  of  the  thousand  years  of  that  reign  ;  and  there  were 
"any  other  points  concerning  which  dis^ut*  aro^      Z 
the  strong  central  belief  that  Christ  would  co^  n  per 
son  never  d.ed  among  men,  however  frequent  ^hediiD 
po.nment  because  the  Saviour  did  not  appear.  ^' 

by  tht",.tro;\??  ''Vu'''  °'  "^^-^  -  ^'gJ^t  -  -an 
.nni"      ,  "''""  '^^'"'^'"  spoke  out,  as  others  had 

arUi  many  thol;i  ;:;;'""*t  ''''''  ^"'^^^'  ^"^ 
menf  oiwi  n         ,  "^^"^*^  ^^  a  tremendous  pitch  of  excite- 

"™.r  ■  s  .'i?:r,'ir™"" "- '"- »" "« 

tli.-.se  other  tl      '     ,  """^  ^"""e  possible,  which 

-H^u  lyr^      In,"?  r""  "°*  '"^^ ' '"°'"^°* -*-'-» 

to  ,sav  stran!.i  '      '  '"'''*'  P"^''"^'  ^^at  novel,  not 

this  un  letwS;.^^^^^^^^     T'"'  """^^  •^"^"•^  ••    ^-^  -^  as 

down  the  land  .^.r''' '"  ''''"''''  "'^n  went  up  and 

the  land  calling  for  a  preparation  to  meet  the  Christ, 


34     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

inti*rest    steadily  deepc^necl  and  widened,  growing  more 
piussionatt'ly  intense  as  the  year  approached.     Miller  ap- 
pears  to   have   Ixien   a   man   of    eandour   and   honesty, 
esteemed  l)y  his  followers  iis  of  more  than  ordinary  powers, 
cool  and  sagacious,  humble  and  devout,  a  man  of  great 
moral  and  social  worth.     He  was  uneducated  save  as  he 
had  helped  liimself  to  an  education.     He  was  born  in 
Pittsfield,  Miussachusetts,  in  1782,  and  was  old  enough, 
hence,  to  fill,  as  he  did,  the  captaincy  of  a  company  of 
troops  guarding  the  northern  frontier  in  the  War  of  1812. 
The  word  goes  that  he  had  become  a  pronounced  deist 
as  he  had  read  the  works  of  Voltaire,  Thomas  Paine  and 
Ethan  Allen,  but,  however  that  nmy  be,  he  became  at  last 
a  member  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Low  Hampton,  New- 
York,  to  which  place  he  had  moved  ;  and  thenceforth  he 
took  up  the  close  study  of  such  Bible  concordances  as  he 
could  command.     In  these  and  the  i)rophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament,  particularly  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  he  found 
his  arguments  for  the  coming  end  of  the  world.     In  1831 
he  Ix^gan  in  a  small  way  to  preach  his  new  doctrine, 
often  to  mere  handfuls  of  people.     In  1833  he  was  form- 
ally licensed    to   preach  by  the   Baptist  denomination. 
The  interest  in  what  this  serious-minded  man  had  to  say, 
had  now  so  heightened  that  larger  audiences  awaited  him. 
He  was  made  welcome,  too,  in  the  churches  of  nearly  all 
the  denominations,  so  that  he  rapidly  entered  a  still  wider 
field  of  labour.     As  the  members  of  different  denomina- 
tions looked  into  the  matter,  they  found  that  not  only  had 
men  in  far  distant  centuries  held  to  this  belief  that  at 
some  time,  near  or  far,  the  reign  of  a  thousand  years  would 
come,  but  that  even  in  CrorawelPs  time  the  overthrow  of 
the  royal  family  in  England  was  looked  upon  as  an  event 
leading  directly  up  to  the  end,  and  the  year  IGGB  was  set 
upon  as  the  time  ;  while  Swedenborg,  famous  among  those 
who  came  later,  had  designated  1836  as  the  year  in  which 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  35 

the  millennium  woidd  begin.     Others  set  the  date  forward 
to  186^,  and  still  others  to  1881. 

Jil  ^'^^f^^f  ^«P^^^^  P^blish;d  in   1831,  in  Philadel- 

auS^ht'  ,f  "T''^'^^^  Americana,-the  movement  is 
quite  liberally  discussed  contemporaneously.  After  re- 
-unting  the  powerful  hold  that  belief  in  a  millennium 
h  d  .  d  upon  people  of  the  middle  ages  and  how  it  was 
adopted  and  promulgated  in  the  first  centuries  after  Christ 
not  o,,^  by  heretics  but  by  the  orthodox,  the  review 

cklj  S  I 

wal'  to'"r^'e'lo  the' l""i"":  ^^'"  '"  ^''  "^^'^  *''=>'  ^uman  misery 

"h^\ltd\yL%T'  :"„?"''  "^^  '"^"''f"'  ^^ho  had  risen  7rom 
At  ,haf  b  ss  i  oe'ri^":'"^"""''^  enjoy  ineffable  happines^ 
10,000  Rra  ns  everv^r.in  7''  ^"  ''i  '"''""'  ^^""'^  P^'duce 
wouldyfeM  n;iinons  onrlir  T'"^'  "^"""f'  ^^^^^  vine 
nocence  o  Pa  aSe  wo„ld  1°"'  °^'^'^'^  of  wine;  the  in- 
sensual  .Pleasure' the  vk  ory^f  the  rl'°r  7'''  'r"^^'"^'  ^"^ 
would  be  complete,  and  thefced  ^S^  !l"t'"^T 
Jerusalem    which   would   desrenH   fl^    i,  "  ""^ ''^^^enly 

dinary  splendour  amnr,ni„.        °"  ''^^'ven  with  extraor- 
icent  habitation  .^    "i''"'  '°  '^"'^^  *em  into  its  magnif- 

Jfillor  by  constant  study  and  Dersisf-Pnf  n<«.^   * 
tl'rowull  obiection«  fi„..ii        '^  f'^'^^^'tent  efforts  to  over- 
■sible  lineof  aa/uZf  r  ^  ""^''""^  '^  thoroughly  plau- 
faets.     Thie  S  "  .^      "P°'>^'^PParently  indisputable 

tainPd  H,!  """^  ''■'^"^^  ^ere  the  following  con- 

tained the  essence  of  his  belief  ^  y^u^e    u-  '""'"s  con- 
considerable  numhfir  J  '     '^''ef  which  aroused  a 

••'"<'  ".ade  a  verv  con.i?,   ''n"    1°  "'^  ""'''^  of  fanaticism 
"neomfortaWe  .^  «»°'^'derable  other  number  feel  decidedly 

Ctef:o;r:i^ti:ur,tr"r^?"^^«^-'^ 

"  I  -Ueve  that  the  r;rJ;".LrStr^th 


14    ' 


M 


*>/» 


LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


% 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD 


37 


■I 


when  He  comes  will  be  changed  from  mortal  to  immortal 
bodies  and  with  them  who  are  raised  from  the  dead  will 
be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  and  so  be  for- 
ever with  the  Lord. 

*'  I  believe  that  when  Christ  comes  He  will  destroy  the 
bodies  of  the  living  wicked  by  lire,  as  those  of  the  old 
world  were  destroyed  by  water,  and  shut  up  their  souls 
in  the  pit  of  woe,  until  their  resurrection  unto  damnation. 

*^  I  believe  when  the  earth  is  cleansed  by  fire,  that  Christ 
and  His  saints  will  then  take  possession  of  the  earth  and 
dwell  therein  forever.  Then  the  kingdom  will  be  given 
to  the  saints. 

*'I  believe  the  time  is  appointed  of  God  when  these 
things  shall  be  a(*complished. 

*'  I  believe  the  wise,  they  who  are  to  shine  as  the  bright- 
uess  of  the  firmament  (Daniel  12  :  3),  will  understand  the 

time. 

*a  believe  the  time  can  be  known  by  all  who  desire  to 
understand  and  to  be  ready  for  His  coming,  and  I  am 
fully  convinced  that  some  time  between  I\Iarch  21,  1843, 
and  March  21,  1844,  according  to  the  Jewish  mode  of 
computation  of  time,  Christ  will  come  and  bring  all  His 
stunts  with  Him  and  that  then  He  will  reward  every  man 
as  his  works  shall  be/' 

As  proof  Miller  cited  Matthew  15  :  27  :  "  For  the  Son 
of  Man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  His  Father  with  HLs 
angels  and  then  He  shall  reward  every  man  according  to 

his  works." 

Kev.  22  :  12  :  ''  And  behold  I  come  quickly  and  my  re- 
ward is  with  me  to  give  every  man  according  as  his 
works  shall  be.'' 

Miller  seems  to  have  answered  his  critics  temperately. 
The  following  is  his  response  to  some  criticisms  current 
at  the  time— one  of  them  this  comment  of  Prof.  Moses 
Stuart  ou  learning  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  to  be  on 


April  3d  :  ''I  would  respectfully  suggest  that  in  some 
way  or  other,  they  have  made  a  small  mistake  as  to  the 
exact  day  of  the  month  when  the  grand  catastrophe 
takes  place,  the  1st  day  of  April  being  evidently  much 
more  appropriate  to  their  arrangements  than  any  other 
day  in  the  year  !  "  — 

Miller  says  :  '•  My  principles,  in  brief,  are  that  Jesus  Christ 
wil  conie  agani  to  this  earth,  cleanse,  purify,  and  take  possession 
of  the  same  with  all  His  saints,  some  time  between  March  21 
1843,  and  March  21,  1844.  I  have  never,  for  the  space  of 
more  than  twenty-three  years,  had  any  other  time  preached  or 
published  by  me;  I  have  never  fixed  on  any  month,  day  or 
hour,  during  that  period;  .  .  .  I  have  made  no  pro' 
vision  for  any  other  time  ;  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  the 
B.ble  IS  true   and  is  the  word  of  God,  and  I  am  confident  that 

rely  wholly  on  the  b  essed  book  for  my  faith  in  this  matter. 
I  am  not  a  prophet.     I  am  not  sent  to  prophesy,  but  to  read 
believe,    and    publish    what     God    has   inspired    the   ancieni 
prophets  to  administer  to  us,  in  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments.     These  have   been,  and  now  are,  my  prin 
ciples,  and  I  hope  I  shall  never  be  ashamed  of  them 

-  As  to  worldly  cares,  I  have  had  but  very  few  for  twelve  years 
past.  I  have  a  wife  and  eight  children ;  I  have  great  reas^^^^^ 
to  believe  they  all  are  the  children  of  God  and  belfevers  n  he 
same  doctrine  with  myself.  I  own  a  small  farm  in  I^w  Hamp 
ton,  N  V. ;  my  family  support  themselves  upon  it,  and  I  be- 
..eve   they   are  esteemed   frugal,    temperate,   and   Lustrous 

S  from  t'h?^  h ''"  "^^'^"i  ^^"^^'"^'  ^"^  never  tu^a  pi  : 
grim  from  the   house,  nor  the  needy  from  the  door      I  ble« 

God     hat  my  family  are  benevolent\nd  kind  to  aH  men  who 
need  their  sympathy  or  aid  ;  I  have  no  cares  to  managrexcen^ 

of'a  ;\"i"f  7r'''   '  '^^^  "°  ^"^^^  ordebK7 
pended  '3  thnn  ^       '.k"^   ""f  /"^'^^"^  "  ^"^  ^  have  ex- 

t'welve  yea^b     des That  ?^^^^^        '"""^  "'  ^"^  P^^P^^^^  ^^ 
friends,  in  this  cause.''  '  ^'^'"  "^'  '^'^^^^  '^'  ^^^^ 

scale  of  mentality ;  emotional,  easily  influenced  bv  the 
-pernatural,  or  any  shadow  of  it,  cr^edulous  to  a  degree! 


I    , 


•  •  •  • 


! 


38    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

Some,  of  a  stronger  mental  constitution,  resisted  his  con- 
clusions but  were  staggered  by  his  apparent  facts.  Some 
who  did  not  believe  were  led  to  a  sharp  study  of  the  Bible 
along  the  lines  he  laid  down,  following  his  texts  in  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testament  in  order  to  determine  for 
themselves  the  truth  or  falsity  of  his  position.  Some 
were  utterly  incredulous  and  passed  the  whole  matter  by 
as  unworthy  of  notice. 

It  was  among  the  class  next  to  the  last  mentioned,  those 
who  did  not  believe  and  yet  were  ready  to  follow  his  ar- 
guments, that  he  made  his  strongest  converts.  For,  if 
they  would  but  study  as  he  had  studied  and  seek  the  light 
he  found  in  the  texts  he  gave  them, — and  this  without 
other  aid  than  the  Bible  itself  and  without  a  deep  and 
critical  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew,— he  knew 
they  would  logically  laud  in  his  camp.  Nor  does  it  seem 
at  all  improbable  that  when  fully  fifty  thousand  people 
had  espoused  the  new  cause,  some  with  fanatical  zeal, 
some  with  simple  and  devout  taith  that  they  were  to  see 
the  face  of  the  Saviour,  some  because  of  intellectual  con- 
viction,— it  does  not  seem  strange, — such  a  movement 
deeply  impressed  itself  upon  the  other  thousands  who 
could  not  but  see  what  a  great  event  would  be  at  hand  in 
case  this  man,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  greater  men, 
had  indeed  hit  upon  the  day  and  the  hour  of  the  coming 
of  the  Christ. 

It  might  fairly  be  said  that,  on  the  face  of  it,  granting 
his  premises  to  be  sound,  Miller  had  proved  his  case. 

Moses  Craig,  Austin's  father,  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  movement.  He  was  far  too  shrewd  and  keen  a 
man  to  be  befogged  by  any  speculative  mists,  but,  once 
facts  for  a  statement  were  adduced,  he  was  eager  to  prove 
these  facts,  and,  if  sound,  accept  the  conclusions  they  led 
to.  The  excitement  which  was  nearing  its  height  when 
Austin  entered  college  had  its  influence  upon  his  father ; 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  39 

it  could  not  be  otherwise.  Xo  doubt  a  subtler  and  deeper 
influence  was  exerted  upon  thousands  who  apparency 
paid  no  attention  to  the  movement  than  even  thev  won  J 
liuve  been  willing  to  admit.  The  lather  had  heard  MilS 
preach,  had  looked  up  many  of  the  Scriptural  referf^^^^^^^ 
had  studied  much  the  general  scheme      But  he  SS 

JnVT^-  "'^"'  '"^'^  ^^^"^^  ^^  ^^^  «^^^e  no  profes- 
sion of  religion  at  the  time  of  entrance  upon  college  wi 

i^iko  his  father,  this  truth  must  not  be  bound  bv  man 
made  tenets  nor  circumscribed  by  man-placed  limitatro"' 

/f  isToVr""'!'^^'  ^''^'  '"^  ^^^^-^  -  the  strong  Tov; 
2^1^  1  r^^^^^^^^  'r'  "'"  ^^  opportunity  in  the  excit^ 
o      us     he    "  ?:  'Tr  ''^'"^"  ^'^"^^  "Pon  the  son, 
^^^^h!:.:''  '^""^'^  If  the  Christ  is  coming! 

th^S'and  w^  7T''  '^  ^'^  ^^-^  collegian  on 

le-'**  logical    eraofin.w     '  *^'^f/''\"g«  f»r  their  warmer,  but 
""■fTlity  oscitemonf  IT  *^^  ^^^  ^^^ex  of  a 

-^  "-ir^s:;xrL7oTr„"  --'  ^- 

afterwanis  became  known  Tvhi^I't '"'"*'"'^^'  ^^« 
science,  in  a  letter  wntt™  f  ^'^,^"t^"g8  "Pon  social 
1842,  d„ri„«  n  eir  va  a tl  f  ^"'^'^*^'P^'«-  ^^  April, 

aa  to  the  whole  sub  ecT".'  ''^'"'^^^'  '"**'  ^^^ai 

will  be  of    uter     'w        '1  '"''""'  ^'•<'"  "'«  l««er 
interest  here,  as  showing  how  deeply  and 


I       , 


«     i 


11  * 

I  it 


40    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

powerfully  the  whole  subject  had  taken  hold  upou  think- 
ing men.     In  the  letter  he  says: 

**  I  have  been  studying  Millerism  a  little  and  chronology  a 
great  deal  this  vacation.  1  have  read  no  books  on  the  subject 
but  Josei)hus  and  the  Bible  and  some  little  of  the  Septuagint. 
1  will  say  something  about  the  chronology  first  and  then  of  the 
second  advent  in  1843.  Of  the  age  of  Terah  when  he  begat 
Abram  (Genesis  11  :  26),  the  only  parallel  passage  of  similar 
construction  I  know  is  Genesis  5  :  32.  Shem  is  first  mentioned 
in  this,  Abram  in  that,  and  therefore  if  it  can  be  proved  Noah 
was  500  when  he  begat  Shem,  we  conclude  Terah  was  about 
seventy  when  he  begat  Abram.  Now,  Noah  was  600  at  the 
flood,  two  years  after  which  Shem  begat  Arphaxad.  Noah  was 
602  when  Shem  begat  Arphaxad,  but  Shem,  at  that  time,  was 
100  (Genesis  11  :  10).  Noah  was  600 — 100=1500  when  he 
begat  Shem.  Therefore  we  conclude  Terah  was  about  seventy 
when  he  begat  Abram. 

••  The  other  view  of  the  case  is  205 — 75=1130  as  the  age  of 
Terah  when  he  begat  Abram.  But  this  is  not  probable ;  for 
why  would  Abram  laugh  when  a  son  was  promised  him  at 
ninety-nine  if  his  father  had  begat  him  at  130  ?  We  conclude 
either  Terah  was  not  205  when  he  died  or  Acts  7  :  4  must  be  a 
mistake.  But  Josephus  and  the  Septuagint  also  say  Terah  died 
aged  205  ;— we  conclude  Acts  7  :  4  is  a  mistake.  Probably 
an  error  had  been  made  in  transcribing  the  manuscript  and  the 
verse  should  read  <  when  his  father  was  dead.'  This  would 
seem  very  probable  as  Haran  did  die  before  his  father,  and 
Abram  took  Nahor's  son  Lot  with  him  when  he  went  into 
Canaan. 

"To  go  into  details  would  take  too  long,  so  I  would  merely 
say  :  I  make  sixty  years  less  than  you  on  this  part,  three  more 
than  you  in  Samuel's  time,  eight  less  in  Anarchy  and  Chursan, 
one  less  in  Jehoram  (perhaps),  and  no  interregnum  of  eleven 
years,  so  that  the  difference  between  us  would  be  — 60 -[-3 — 8 — 
I — 11—77  years  ;  so  that,  accordingly,  the  world's  age  would 
be  6002 — 77=15925  years  in  the  year  1843. 

**  On  Millerism  in  general  I  would  say  what  I  said  at  a  de- 
bating society  not  long  since  on  the  question.  Whether  the 
Second  Advent  Doctrine  as  taught  by  Miller  is  in  accordance 
with  reason  and  Scripture, — I  think  that  the  arguments  in  its 
favour  are  not  clearly  tenable  except  the   2300  years.     The 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  41 

others  will  do  as  accessory  evidence  when  the  other  is  estab- 
hshed,  bu    w,ll  not  do  alone  to  support  the  doctrine      Well 

nau  rv'^niT'  I'^'^^r^  The^irguments  that  L  mat 
sanctuary  wi  1  be  cleansed  2300  years  after  457  b.  c  are  so 
strong  that  I  have  not  as  yet  met  with  a  single  weighty  and 

and  vatd  Whne^h"  '"^  "^"''  '^  ''  the  san'.e  time^'^^h  J 
anc   valid.     Wh  le  the  argument  in  its  favour  is  very  plausible 

and  ,f  the  word  translated  'determined'  means Tn  Hebrew 
(not  Chaldee),  cut  off,-if  so,  the  argument  in  its  favour 
amounts  almost  to  a  mathematical  demonstration 

"  Meanwhile,  let  us  be  strong  in  the  Lord  and  He  will  care 
for  us.  I  have  not  yet  studied  the  Mohammedan  pr^ecies 
and  am  unable  to  render  opinion."  propnecies 

Pa.s8ing  from  such  a  letter  as  this  from  a  dear  friend, 
a  scholarly  young  man,  one  in  whom  he  had  confidence 
one  who  was,  plainly  enough,  preparing  himself  for  the 
coming  01  the  last  day,  to  a  letter  written  to  him  by  his 
sixteen-year-old  sister,  or  rather  to  excerpts  from  two 
letters  we  shall  see  how  strong  and  varied'^^he  influence 

s^^^^'^J^LR.r^J^'  W^rSV'^  letter  quaintly 
set  and  saw  the  rniu  J  ,i  i  [^^^'ied  Princeton  about  sun- 
large  buddings  nfe  rnllJ°^'n'  ''""""'^'  ^"^^  several  other 
l>u.lling  ,:ft;  i3  i  sh^d  '^It  s'S  o7'i  red/  ,T^  '''''^ 
oured  stone  in  the  Gothic  stvle  OuI?a  ^^"^'  ^'°'^"  "^°'- 
10  Newark  to  hear  Mr  \f  n  u  ""'^^>'  ™°>-n'ng  «'e  went 

He  explained  the  sfxteetth  h'"T  °" 'he  Second  Advent, 
sueak.!  nf  .k1  i-'xteenth  chapter  of  Revelation  where   it 

speaks  of  the  seven  angels  with  their  viak  of  wr^m      -rJ.    c 
angel  poured  his  vial  upon  the  ear  h       R„  L         .V    ^^  '^''' 
"n(  erstand  (he  k';n„,i„      V  ,     1     •     % 'he  earth  we  are  to 

This  via?  begj,  ^o  be  nour°//'",''''^V°^  ^"'"'^h  government, 
•he  year  a.  d  ,  ° ''Vj;;'  °  °"  'I'  ^"""''^  ^^"''^  ^^out 
and  others  who  exposed  and  -  ^''^'J^'l^  "^  Luther,  Calvin, 
church  of  Rome.  ^^°'^^  '^e  corruptions  of  the 

and  i'tram:  as^^ ll^ifTS  ma?^'^'  "T "^^  ^^^ 

^i  d.  aeaa  man  and  every  hving  soul 


i     I 


42    LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

died  in  the  sea.'  The  sea,  in  prophetic  language,  is  the  centre 
of  some  great  nation  or  society  of  men.  The  *  living  soul ' 
denotes  those  persons  who  have  been  born  of  the  spirit  and  are 
in  possession  of  that  living  faith  in  God  and  love  for  all  men. 
The  *  blood  of  a  dead  man  '  denotes  a  massacre  in  cold  blood 
without  any  resistance  upon  the  part  of  those  murdered.  This 
vial  was  then  poured  out  m  France, — the  j^rincipal  kingdom  in 
the  Roman  ten  horns, — in  the  year  a.  d.  1572,  at  the  massacre 
of  the  Huguenots  on  St.  Bartholomew's  Eve  when  50,000  were 
slain  in  one  night  and  the  streets  ran  blood,  as  Sully  tells  us, 
in  some  places  ankle-deep. 

"  '  And  the  third  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  rivers 
and  fountains  of  water  and  they  became  blood.'  By  rivers 
and  fountains  of  water  we  are  to  understand  the  nations  who 
lived  around  the  central  sea ;  blood  denotes  destructive  war. 
This  vial  was  poured  out  about  the  year  1630. 

*' '  And  the  fourth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  sun  and 
power  was  given  him  to  scorch  men  with  fire.'  The  sun  in 
prophetic  language  is  an  emblem  of  the  Gospel.  To  *  scorch 
men  with  fire  '  signifies  to  make  men  angry ;  great  heat  means 
uncommonly  angry.  This  vial  was  poured  out  in  the  past  cen- 
tury. 

*'  *  And  the  fifth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  seat  of 
the  Beast  and  his  Kingdom  was  full  of  darkness  and  they 
gnawed  their  tongues  for  |)ain  and  blasphemed  the  God  of 
heaven  because  of  their  pain  and  their  sores  and  repented  not 
of  their  deeds.*  The  'seat  of  the  beast '  must  mean  those  ten 
kingdoms  on  which  the  woman  sitteth,  which  is  Rome.  *  Full 
of  darkness  '  must  mean  full  of  wickedness,  confusion,  and 
every  evil  work.  *  Gnawed  their  tongues  for  pain  '  showed 
shame,  disgrace,  and  disappointment.  This  vial  was  poured 
out  in  the  French  Revolution  about  1798.  In  this  revolution 
among  the  Roman  kingdoms  under  this  vial,  the  Bastile  was 
demolished,  the  Inquisition  destroyed,  the  torture  suppressed, 
and  the  power  of  the  Papal  clergy  restrained. 

**  '  And  the  sixth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  great 
river  Eu[)hrates,  and  the  water  thereof  was  dried  up  that  the 
way  of  the  kings  of  Esau  might  be  prepared.'  The  river 
Euphrates  means  in  prophecy  the  people  of  the  countries  border- 
ing on  that  river  and  of  course  refers  to  the  Turkish  power. 
*  Water  thereof  was  dried  up  '  is  an  emblem  of  the  power  and 
strength  of  that  kingdom  being  taken  away.     This  vial  was 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  43 

poured   out   on    Turkey  by  the   loss  of  a  great  share  of  the 
empire.        And  I  saw  three  unclean  spirits  like  frogs  come  out 
of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  beast 
and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false  prophet.'     '  Three  unclean 
spirits,  —by  this  we  must  understand  three  wicked  principles 
'l^rogs    show  us  that  it  is  political.      '  Mouth  '  denotes  orders 
or  commands.     The  *  dragon  '  is  a  figure  of  the  kings  of  the 
earth.      1  he    Beast    represents  Papacy  and  '  the  false  prophet ' 
Mohometanism.     Mr.  Miller  says  the  millennium  will  come  in 
1843.     But  whether  it  comes  or  not,  we  are  commanded  to  be 
ready,  and  it  would  well  become  a  Christian  people  to  do  so." 

A  few  mouths  lat^r  : 

nu  "  ^^''*  ^'9'  9^ff  P^^ched  last  evening  from  Romans  thirteenth 
Z7r  h^",     f    ''^"'^'  l^''^'     To-night,  to-morrow  night,  and 
Sunday  he  lectures  on  the  near  approach  of  the  Second  Advent 
He  IS  firm  in  the  belief  that  the  Lord  will  come  this  year      He 
said  a  praying  nian  near  Patterson  went  out  one  morning  into 

comr  Hi  '  r^'  "'  "^^  ^"^^^^^^^  ^^'^  -'  ^'^-^^  but  dkl  not 
come.     His  family  were  somewhat  alarmed  on  account  of  his 

staying  so  long   and  about  sunset  they  went  for  him      They 

neaven.  ihey  took  hira  to  the  house  and  with  some  diffiriilt«^ 
toM  fh.  ^'"h  \'^r-  '^'^^"  he  got  so  that  he  couW  speak  h^ 
ln:/o'^X    St.   dlyTthis=h^rh'  S"  '^  ''''  '^r^''^ 

ot;";^i"fhSs^^^^^^^^ 

will  show.     However   be   ha!  H  '  '  ''"°T  "°' '  '™«  ^l""* 

be  prepared  andlnrav  ,L,         ^  '°°"^i  °'  ^""'"^  "  '^  ^est  to 
our  Great  Judge  an'd  th^^  »>,      "^^  ''^"'^  uncondemned  before 

**  Mother  sends  her  love." 

be  lad  mumnli  'f  S,^*"^.*^^  "  ''^  P=»g««  '^  ^^ich,  after 
«ub  m,  ^etS       ^'''"'  ^""^"^"^  '---S  "P-  the 


44    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"  It  seems  to  me  the  righteous  are  to  inherit  a  new  heaven 
and  a  new  earth.  Just  ponder  this  (the  elaborate  references) 
over  in  your  own  mind  and  don't  hand  it  out  as  all  that  can  be 
said  till  you  hear  from  me  again.  There  can  be  a  great  deal 
said  on  both  sides  of  all  these  questions,  a  great  many  passages 
of  Scripture  that  seem  to  form  the  two  views  of  the  sub- 
ject. .    .  . 

"The  excitement  on  the  subject  is  increasmg.  I  want  you 
to  be  continually  on  your  watch ;  let  not  evil  overtake  you. 
Begin  and  end  every  day  by  conunending  yourself  to  God.  The 
chronology  1  do  not  look  so  much  at  as  the  fact  of  the  2300 
days,  or  years,  of  the  visions,  and  then  the  time  that  the  decree 
went  forth  to  restore  and  build  Jerusalem.  The  margin  of  the 
Bible  says  457  years  before  Christ;  1  suppose  history  says  the 
same.  Read  towards  the  last  of  Daniel  concerning  the  seventy 
weeks,  etc.,  take  457  from  2300 leaves  1843;  then  the  sanctuary 
is  to  be  cleaned.  The  whole  world  seems  to  be  rousing  up  to 
this  subject.  We  do  not  know  what  a  day  may  bring  forth. 
Goff  says  this  is  the  last  time  he  will  ever  meet  his  Christian 
friends  in  this  place  in  the  flesh.     Keep  this  to  yourself." 


Letter  follows  letter  after  this  from  the  father  to  the 
son  reviewing  elaborate  arguments  as  they  were  presented 
by  various  ministers,  and  reeounting  in  detail  events  as 
they  developed. 

The  young  college  student  was  well  balanced.  He  did 
not  allow  these  varied  influences  to  in  any  way  unduly 
bias  liim.  He  was  serious  iu  his  consideration  of  all  the 
points  raised  and,  in  common  with  many  others  who 
looked  on  and  who  could  not  ignore  the  apparent  sound- 
ness of  the  arguments,  was  impressed  by  the  tremendous 
excitement  of  the  hour,  was  made  more  reverent  by  the 
contemplation  of  a  possible  end  to  the  existing  order.  In 
a  story  written  by  Dr.  Edward  Eggleston,  ''The  End  of 
the  \Vorld,^'  published  some  thirty-five  years  ago,  in 
which  the  coming  of  this  end  in  1843  forms  the  back- 
ground of  the  tale,  the  author  speaks  thus  of  the  influence 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD 


45 


the  excitement  had  upon  others  than  those  who  believed 
the  end  was  coming  : 

"The  assured  belief  of  the  believers  had  a  great  effect  on 
others.  The  dreadful  drawing  on  of  the  set  day  produced  an 
effect  in  some  regions  absolutely  awful.  An  eminent  divine  at 
that  time  a  pastor  m  Boston,  has  told  me  that  the  leaven  of 
A.lventism  permeated  all  religious  bodies,  and  that  he  himself 
could  not  avoid  the  fearful  sense  of  waiting  for  some  catastrophe 
-the  impression  that  all  this  expectation  of  people  must  have 
some  significance."  ^    '         "=i  uavc 

In  a  letter  written  from  college  when  the  excitement 
was  at  white  heat  the  boy  agreed  with  his  father  that  one 
of  the  niinistei-s  who  had  been  preaching  at  Peapack  and 
vicinity  did  appear  to  prove,  from  liis  basis,  that  the 
second  coming  of  Christ  iu  1843  was  very  plausible. 

''  It  all  rests,"  he  writes  to  his  parents  and  sister  "unon  thp 
difference  of  the  hundred  and  fifty'  years  which  m'  ier  makesS 
gJln  Zt  hfJ-n  ^f""^*^  Miller'i  theory  may  be  truTand'l 
sulZse  11  at  he^  hf  ^''  "T«-  ^"  ''^  "  "°'  ^''"°^'  absurd  to 
eh  led,  e'  I     '^'^'■'^"^^''^  ^  """"-y  ^"d  a  half  should  have 

an  tale  t?  I  7'"'"  °^  '"""  "'"'^  ^^'  ="P"i°^  i"  learning 
tha  N  :  ;,  aml"^  l".."  "°'  .''^^''"''-%  ^°  -l-en  we  considef 
cii  u  ,1  """;'■  ^'"""^"'  chronologists  have  had  pre- 

c  se  y  the  same  means  for   ascertaining   the  world's  aee  thlt 

c       u^reTwrL":"''':"''"'  "''^  ''''-«'  of  aUagefhav 
notl^rerai;; LSd."  ''''"  "  ""  ^""'"^  °^  "'^  ^"fonology 

the"mil|'",L?i"'°"v'^'''  """''  ^  ''  g^"'  P°'i'i">  change  before 

self-go  rZrt  mis^'l  """"''^  "^"'  ''''  P'^""'^  «^^  '^'p^'^'^  "^ 
triuinnh  over^'  u       "'■"•^'^  '"'"  ^^''''"     Democracy  must 

l>e  ToZd^rt^'^^  ""^''"""^  institutions  of  tyranny 
fectly  carried  into  ^."^-^J^^  ^^ -""'"-  has  this  been  per- 
alone  on  the  H.   nf  ^  .Scarcely  one.      America  stands 

a'Imitted  that  ell,     "°"""''^'  governments.     It  is  generally 

a".<  it  is  in  1^2:,  raXe^r:;.h,- ,f  r-'"^^^"'^'^' 

P'eof  the  monarchies  of  EuropfrrLXta^^Tgrorfnt: 


%      ' 


J 


i       » 


46     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

For  example,  see  the  examinations  of  the  colliers  in  England 
and  of  the  Germans  at  Millville,  on  the  contested  elections. 
These  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  the  education  of  the 
common  people  in  the  two  principal  kingdoms  of  Europe. 

*<  If,  then,  education  is  necessary  to  free  government,  and 
the  subversion  of  monarchy  and  the  institution  of  republicanism 
are  to  take  place  before  the  millennium,  who  shall  decide  when 
Christ  shall  make  His  second  advent  ?  Are  the  deeply-rooted 
prejudices  of  the  present  ignorant  generation  of  Europe  to  be 
done  away  and  just  and  enlightened  views  to  be  substituted  in 
their  place  in  the  short  space  of  six  months  ?  Or  is  it  possible 
at  all  to  make  that  generation  enlightened  sufficiently  for  the 
purpose  of  self-government  ?  Common  sense  would  say,  No. 
'I'he  children  may  indeed  be  educated,  but  their  fathers  are  too 
firmly  bound  by  the  shackles  of  ignorance  and  superstition  to 
render  it  practicable.  It,  however,  stands  all  in  hand  to  be 
prepared,  whether  the  millennium  comes  or  not." 

In  other  letters  he  had  propounded  various  puzzling 
questions  iis  to  the  tox)ie  uppermost  in  all  minds  and  these 
his  father  had  attempted  to  answer  ;  or,  not  feeling  com- 
petent in  certain  instances,  had  turned  them  over  to  some 
minister  to  answer.  Needless  to  say,  the  response  from 
some  of  the  ministers  of  the  day  was  not  such  as  would 
be  of  a  convincing  character  to  one  who  was  so  much  bet- 
ter prepared  and  who  weighed  all  with  the  balances  of 
logic  and  fact.  One  long  letter  to  Austin  though  written 
on  only  three  pages  of  paper  yet  containing  over  two 
thousand  words,  goes  into  an  exhaustive  effort  to  show 
the  young  man  the  error  of  his  ways.  Indications  of 
irritation  on  the  part  of  the  writer  appear,  as  though, 
povssibly,  he  had  not  been  quite  satisfied  himself  that  he 
was  able  to  cope  with  the  younger  man.  This  latter  is 
suggested  also  by  his  conclusion  of  the  letter  : 

''  Thus  I  have  thrown  together  a  few  (!)  remarks  embracing 
my  views,  in  order  for  your  reflection  and  profit  withal,  hoping 
you  will  examine  the  right  side  of  this  business.     I  think  if  a 


i 


J 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  47 

friend  ha5  not  the  moral  courage  to  make  his  views  known  to 
another  there  can't  be  much  friendship.  By  starting  on  a 
wrong  course  and  bemg  surrounded  by  flatterers,  etc.,  ftc  on 
account  of  his  talents,  education,  etc.,  and  no  one  to  cross' Ws 
path,  by  and  by  a  young  man  may  be  led  to  think  that  he  s 
certamly  correct;  whereas  if  he  were  treated  more  honestly  by 
his  friends  it  would  be  better  for  him.     It  sets  him  thinking.'' 

Doubtless  the  reference  to  talents  and  so  on  was  drawn 
out  by  the  fact  that  at  the  time  this  letter  was  written,  in 
lcS-14,  Austin  had  begun  to  prea^ih  somewhat  in  the  interim 
betorc  final  graduation,  and  he  was  so  well  and  favourably 
received,  and  his  addresses  were  so  powerful  and  so  little 
ike  the  current  preaching  of  uneducated  men,  it  would  be 
but  na  ural  that  jealousies  should  arise  on  the  part  of 
some  of  the  older  ones  who  had  not  had  such  advantages 
as  he  had  had  and  who  were  not  so  talented 

Hour  by  hour  as  the  middle  of  the  summer  of  1843  an 
Proadied  the  excitement  deepened.     The  11th  of  August 
had  been  set  by  some  as  the  day.    The  excitementtpread 
far  and  wide.     Many  believing  that  the  end  was  at  hand 
-Hi  seeing  no  further  need  of  their  pergonal  b^lLTnS 
gave  away  houses  and  lands,  saving  out  only  enS 

i«ssi>  insane.     Very  many  men  and  women  made  robes 
cues  for  the  last  hour.     An  island  in  the  Connecticut 

ZvZcLl     J     Z"^'  ^^^  '^^'^^^  ^^^y  ^^"^  ^  the  day 
Sen  t   1     ^  ^'''''  '^''^  ^^^^  ^^^^«  «f   «^en   and 

tioT  f ^S  L?  Z'T  'f  ^^-^  '"^^^-  ^^  ^^^■ 

other  of  thpT.?        o       ^^°"«yl^a^ia,  in  Maine,    and 

btns     tt  "^""""^   ^^"  ^P^  ^^  t^eir   houses,  or 

t>arns,--theirs  now  no  longer  as  the  day  of  the  Lord  wL 


h  \ 


1 


48    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

coming  and  they  had  divested  themselves  of  worldly 
goods,— would  be  the  proper  place  to  be  located.  Added 
to  the  other  signs  a  huge  comet  appeared  in  the  heavens 
of  which  one  man,  writing  to  Austin  in  response  to  a  re- 
quest from  his  father  that  he  seek  light  on  the  comet, 
discoursed  as  follows  : 

*'This  magnificent  visitor  at  about  seven  o'clock  P.  m.  ap- 
pears in  the  west  stretching  over  seventy  or  eighty  degrees  of 
the  heavens.  His  nucleus  is  too  near  the  sun's  rays  to  be  visi- 
ble yet,  being  below  the  horizon.  The  moon's  light  obscures 
his  splendour  very  much,  but  nevertheless  his  appearance  is 
most  sublime.  Were  the  moon  absent  he  would  present  one  of 
the  most  sublime  spectacles  the  eye  ever  rested  upon.  His  ap- 
pearance is  that  of  an  immensely  long  and  broad  ray  of  light, 
which  like  a  luminous  vapour  spreads  across  the  southwestern 
heavens  intersecting  the  horizon  at  an  angle  of  about  thirty  de- 
grees. 

**  Whether  he  be  approaching  near  to  our  planet  at  this  time 
or  not,  I  have  not  the  means  of  determining.  If  he  revolve,  as 
he  most  probably  does,  in  his  orbit  in  the  same  direction  around 
his  great  master,  the  sun,  as  our  planet  does,  we  are  now  re- 
ceding from  him  at  the  rate  of  about  a  thousand  miles  a  minute. 
But  this  speed,  were  he  in  direct  pursuit,  would  avail  us  very 
little  against  his  tremendous  velocity.  One  thing  is  most  cer- 
tain that  this  celebrated  visitor  is  now  a  much  nearer  neighbour 
to  our  planet  than  any  that  has  ever  appeared. 

*'Now  when  we  think  of  all  the  signs  that  have  occurred 
within  the  last  twelve  years,  not  including  this  comet,  is  it  not 
fair  to  argue  from  this  that  Miller's  suppositions  are  correct  ? 
Is  not  this  the  comet  that  is  to  destroy  the  world  ?  The  world, 
the  Bible  very  plainly  says,  is  to  be  destroyed  by  fire.  This 
comet  is  certainly  made  of  fire,  judging  from  his  appearance. 
Astronomers  assert  there  are  not  as  many  planets  within  the 
last  century  as  there  used  to  be,  a  great  many  have  disap- 
peared, and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  their  time 
having  run  out,  they  have  been  destroyed  by  comets." 

A  volume  might  be  written  descriptive  of  the  strange 
incidents  that  accompanied  the  preparation  for  the  main 
event.     In  one  New  York  town  where  there  were  many 


THE  EXD  OF  THE  WORLD  49 

Millerites,  ou  the  uiglit  of  the  eud-to-be  the  people  who 
were  to  aseeud  put  ou  loose  white  robes  over  their  other 
(•K.thing.     Around  their  waists  they  fixed  heavy  leathern 
bWts    ,y  wliich  they  hope,!  to  facilitate  their  ascension, 
he  b,.lts  being  for  the  purpose  of  alfording  ease  in  liftiug 
u  lu  !    In  (he  town  there  was  a  boys'  school  and  some  of 
the  young  niscids  swung  ropes  from  the  limbs  of  the 
ti-ees,   these  ropes  having  pendant  hooks.     On  the  an- 
p.>arance  of  a  party  ready  for  ascension,  a  grand  rush 
would  be  made,  the  hook  would  be  slipped  into  the  belt 
the  rope  would  be  pulled  taut,  and  in  a  trice  the  victim 
would  be  dangling  in  the  air.     Violent  indignation  was 
expn.s.se,I   particularly  after  the  night  when  it  appeared 
rather  certain  that  the  end  had  not  yet  arrived,  and  there 
was  .s, II   opportunity  for  righteous  wrath  t«  assume  a 
worldly  attuude.     One  woman  in  the  vicinity,  typTof 
the  u  tralanatical  already   noted,  had  made  herSf  a 
c..nplete  wedding-robe  in  which  to  meet  the  bridegroon, 
\\  l.-n  the  morning  came  she  drowned  hemjlf  in  a  well    " 

2  ,1  of  December  of  the  year  1843  that  Jesus  Christ  wZ 
ha.  very  day  v.i.hin  forty-flve  miles  of  the  earth  "S 

principles  of  their  h^mbu.llLT'"^"""  '°  '^'^V  °"'  'h^ 
^'"''  practicing  TlecemTon?!  n^'  tu*^  ^''"'  '"  hoodwinking 
n>i"ds  of  thofe  SIh  .  ■?"  "'^  '^°'^'^'  bevvildering  the 
"ivisions  in  chnrches  cl  L  r'  '^'  marvellous,  casing 
C'milies  and  nei/hbo.'.rhc^rkl  n'  "'°''  ""Pleasant  feelings  in 


/ 


50     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

and  money,  and  now  they  are  poor  and  destitute ;  and  assum- 
inK  the  power  of  the  Pope,  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  con- 
sciences of  their  brethren,  regarding  them  as  wicked  and 
ignorant ;— we  regard  this  system  as  one  of  the  most  flagrant 
productions  of  error  and  dehision  that  ever  came  under  our 
notice— one  that  contradicts  the  plamest  passages  of  the  Bible, 
perverts  the  prophecies,  wrongly  apphes  the  sayings  of  Jesus 
Christ  And  yet,  after  time  has  proven  them  all  false  prophets, 
given  the  lie  to  the  leading  principles  of  their  system,  and 
placed  them  where  they  are  looked  upon  with  derision  and 
disgust,  they  still  persevere  in  their  unhallowed  crusade  against 
all  who'  profess  the  name  of  Christ,  as  they  say  they  are  just 
upon  the  very  time,  and  Christ  will  surely  be  here. 

*«They  have  changed  'The  Midnight  Cry'  to  'The  Morn- 
ing Watch,'  and  in  a  short  time  it  will  no  doubt  be  changed  to 
'The  Noonday  Sentinel,'  that  they  may  still  practice  deception 
upon  the  ignorant  and  credulous.  Some  one  will  say  we  only 
make  assertions  and  prove  nothing.  We  answer  it  is  no  use  to 
present  Scriptural  argument  or  rational  reasoning.  They  have 
been  written  down  and  all  their  arguments  answered  a  thousand 
times.  They  have  been  driven  from  the  forum  of  debate  with 
shame  and  confusion  of  face,  they  have  been  confounded  pub- 
licly and  privately  ;  the  whole  world  has  decided  against  them  ; 
time  has  written  their  epitaph  ;  God  and  the  Bible  have  always 
been  against  them  ;  and  yet  goaded  to  desperation  they  are 
determined  to  push  on  in  locomotive  style;  while  they  can 
find  fools  enough  to  bow  to  their  blind  god  and  throw  their  all 
into  the  sacred  treasury  they  will  go  on." 

PictiiiTsqiio  indecHl  is  the  following  description  of  a 
nu't'tiiij^  of  those  wlio  looked  for  the  second  coming  of 
Christ ;  it  is  from  the  pen  of  John  G.  Whittier,  the  poet : 

**  Three  or  four  years  ago,  on  my  way  eastward,  I  spent  an 
hour  or  two  at  a  camp-ground  of  the  Second  Advent  in  East 
Kingston.  The  spot  was  well  chosen.  A  tall  growth  of  pine 
and  hemlock  threw  its  melancholy  shadow  over  the  multitude, 
who  were  arranged  upon  rough  seats  of  boards  and  logs.  Sev- 
eral hundred— perhaps  a  thousand— people  were  present,  and 
more  were  rapidly  coming.  Drawn  about  in  a  circle,  forming 
a  background  of  snowy  whiteness  to  the  dark  masses  of  men 
and  foliage,  were  the  white  tents,  and  back  of  them  the  pro- 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD 


51 


vision  stalls  and  cook  shops.  When  I  reached  the  ground,  a 
hymn,  the  words  of  which  1  could  not  distinguish,  was  pealing 
through  the  dim  aisles  of  the  forest.  I  know  nothing  of  music, 
having  neither  ear  nor  taste  for  it ;  but  I  could  readily  see  that 
it  had  its  effect  upon  the  multitude  before  me,  kindling  to 
higher  intensity  their  already  excited  enthusiasm.  The  preachers 
were  placed  in  a  rude  pulpit  of  rough  boards,  carpeted  only  by 
the  dead  forest  leaves  and  flowers,  and  tasselled,  not  with  silk 
and  velvet,  but  with  the  green  boughs  of  the  sombre  hemlocks 
around  it.  One  of  them  followed  the  music  in  an  earnest  ex- 
hortation on  the  duty  of  preparing  for  the  great  event.  Occa- 
sionally he  was  really  eloquent,  and  his  description  of  the  last 
day  had  all  the  terrible  distinctness  of  Anelli's  painting  of  the 
'End  of  the  World.' 

"Suspended   from  the  front  of  the  rude  pulpit  were  two 
broad  sheets  of  canvas,  upon  one  of  which  was  the  figure  of 
a  man— the  head  of  gold,  the  breast  and  arms  of  silver,  the 
belly  of  brass,  the  legs  of  iron,  and  feet  of  clay— the  dream  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  !     On  the  other  were  depicted  the  wonders  of 
the  Apocalyptic  vision — the  beasts — the  dragon — the  scarlet 
woman  seen  by  the  seer  of  Patmos— oriental  types  and  figures 
and   mystic  symbols  translated  into  stirring   Yankee  realities, 
and  exhibited  like  the  beasts  of  a  travelling  menagerie.     One 
horrible  image,  with  its  hideous  heads  and  scaly  caudal  ex- 
tremity, reminded  me  of  the  tremendous  line  of  Milton,  who,  in 
speaking  of  the  same  evil  dragon,  describes  him  as 

'"Swinging  the  scaly  horrors  of  his  folded  tail.' 

"  To  an  imaginative  mind  the  scene  was  full  of  novel  inter- 
est. Ihe  white  circle  of  tents— the  dim  wood  arches— the 
upturned,  earnest  faces— the  loud  voices  of  the  speakers,  bur- 
dened  with  the  awful  symbolic  language  of  the  Bible— the 
smoke  from  the  fires  rising  like  incense  from  forest  altars- 
carrying  one  back  to  the  days  of  primitive  worship,  when 


H   I 


The  groves  were  God's  first  temples,  ere  men  learned 
io  hew  the  shaft,  and  lay  the  architrave, 
And  stretch  the  roof  above  it.*  " 

Tlie  appointed  day  came  and  with  it  such  a  condition 
of  mingled  terror,  distress,  fanatical  exaltation,  solemn 


H 


1 


>  » 

i 


52      LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

and  devout  submission,  and  emotional  insanity,  one  were 
about  to  call  it,  ii^s  perhaps  had  not  been  seen  on  the 
earth  before.  Even  those  of  sound  mind  and  steady 
poise  who  had  not  accepted  the  new  belief  were  dis- 
turbed mightily  under  the  strain. 

When  the  fateful  midsummer  night  passed  and  the 
earth  did  not  see  destruction,  Miller  set  another  date  : — 
he  had  made  a  mistake  in  taking  the  Jewish  year  for  the 
Roman,  the  end  would  be  in  1844.  The  faithful  largely 
held  to  him,  but  those  who  had  looked  askance,  even 
while  they  could  not  but  be  aroused  by  the  awesome  pos- 
sibility of  his  being  right,  went  on  their  way.  One 
woman  among  his  most  devout  followers  went  to  Pales- 
tine, it  is  said,  to  be  ready  to  meet  the  Lord  there  on  the 
24th  of  October,  1844,  the  new  date.  When  both  the 
fateful  years  had  passed  Miller  called  a  general  conven- 
tion of  the  faithful,  meeting  in  Albany,  New  York,  and 
there  was  adopted  a  declaration  of  belief,  and  the  name 
Adventists  was  chosen  to  designate  his  followers.  Miller 
died  in  1849,  leaving,  in  spite  of  the  failure  of  his 
prophecy,  a  reputation  among  his  followers  for  sincerity 
and  honest  manhood. 

In  the  thick  volume  of  letters  which  Austin  preserved, 
written  to  him  during  the  period  1843-48,  none  appear 
fiom  his  father  after  midsummer  of  1S43,  bearing  upon 
IVrillerism.  It  was  plain  that  while  Moses  Craig  had  been 
deeply  interested  in  the  movement,  as  many  another  sane 
and  devout  man  had  been,  once  he  saw  the  fallacy  of  the 
argument,  he  rejected  it.  How  much  the  calm  and  dis- 
passionate letters  of  the  son  had  to  do  with  this  does  not 
appear,  but  doubtless  they  had  their  bearing,  for  the 
father  had  come  to  place  great  reliance  upon  the  judg- 
ment of  the  son. 

There  are  no  letters  to  show  how  the  young  man  passed 
the  momentous  night  iu  which  the  Saviour  of  the  world 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD 


53 


was  to  come  with  shining  angels  ;  but  if  we  are  to  judge 
by  his  steady  and  normal  course  through  the  years  that 
were  to  follow,  and  by  his  calm  and  dispassionate  con- 
sideration of  the  day-by-day  events  leading  up  to  the 
hour,  we  may  conclude  that  his  sleep  was  sound  and  that 
he  awoke  the  next  morning  not  more  deeply  in  earnest  in 
his  determination  to  give  his  life  in  service  to  the  world 
than  he  would  have  been  had  he  not  just  passed  through 
one  of  the  most  tremendous  seasons  of  excitement  that 
ever  swept  over  a  nation.     Nor  is  it  likely  he  saw  any 
more  clearly  his  line  of  duty ;  for  he  had  already  made  up 
his  mind  to  devote  his  life  to  the  preaching,  and  the 
teaching,  of  the  Word  and  to  it  had  given  himself  with 
the  solemn  consecration  that  is  not  born  of  fanaticism, 
nor  emotionalism,  nor  the  wild  frenzy  of  fear. 


(   t 


HIS  EARLY  PREACHING 


65 


IV 

HIS  EARLY  PREACHING 

AS  naturally  as  the  needle  seeks  the  pole  the  young 
man  was  drawn  by  the  great  magnet  of  the 
Church.  All  the  home  surroundings  which  at 
first  seemed  to  make  so  little  religious  impression  upon 
hioi,  all  the  influence  brought  to  bear  by  those  who  saw 
in  his  talents,  his  learning,  his  devout  nature,  the  stuff 
of  which  great  preachera  are  made,  all  the  long  months 
of  the  tense  excitement  of  the  Millerite  movement  would 
have  had  no  effect  upon  so  staunch  and  self-reliant  a  na- 
ture as  his  if  he  had  not  felt  within  himself  the  overmius- 
tering  call  to  service.  Once  in  later  years  a  young  man 
wrote  him  regarding  the  ministry  as  a  profession  asking, 
**Do  you  think,  from  what  I  have  written  you,  that  I 
would  be  a  success  in  this  work  f  " 

Swift  and  to  the  point  came  the  answer  ;  in  it  we  may 
see  Austin  Craig  as  he  began  his  work  : 

"I  do  not  know.  But  it  seems  safe  to  say  this,  Don't  en- 
ter the  ministry  unless,  in  some  way,  you  feel  the  call  of  the 
Lord  unto  you.  If  you  do  feel  yourself  called  by  Him,  then 
give  yourself  to  the  work  because  the  Lord  has  called  you,  and 
be  not  uneasy  about  the  'success.'  Faithfulness  is  your  busi- 
ness; the  success  is  the  Lord's  concern.  U  you  are  in  doubt 
about  your  '  call,'  give  the  Lord  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  and 
try  His  work  in  some  way  for  a  while.  Perhaps  you  could  go 
out  with  some  minister  as  Mark  went  with  Barnabas  and 
Timothy  with  Paul,— the  result  might  make  you  see  your  '  call ' 
clearly. 

"  But  does  it  not  seem  a  half-selfish  thing  at  best  for  a  man 
to  hesitate  over  a  great  duty  for  fear  he  might  not  be  *  a  suc- 

54 


cess  '  ?  .  .  .  Consider  not  whether  you  will  succeed,  but 
consider  whether  the  Lord  has  a  work  for  you  to  do.  If  you 
don't  yet  feel  sure  about  it,  you  can  get  more  light  by  appeal- 
ing to  the  Lord  Himself.  .  .  .  Without  love  to  the  Lord, 
no  man  can  be  *a  success '  in  any  part  of  the  Gospel  ministry. 
I  would  not  so  much  care  what  else  the  young  man  might  seem 
to  lack  if  evidently  Jesus  had  breathed  upon  him.  With  that 
flame  in  him  he  will  win  souls,  he  will  edify  the  Church,  he 
will  be  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed. 

"  What  a  mistake  it  is  to  bring  into  the  ministry  a  man  who 
has  only  ordinary  piety,  little  manifest  love  to  Christ,  slight 
concern  for  his  fellow  men.  Though  he  may  charm  his  hearers 
by  his  eloquence  and  gain  the  favour  of  multitudes,  he  cannot 
be  a  lasting  benefit,— converting  men  from  the  error  of  their 
ways  and  saving  their  souls  from  death,— unless  by  his  spirit 
and  his  teaching  he  shows  himself  'approved  unto  God  '  He 
enters  the  ministry  for  harm  to  others  and  for  woe  to  himself 
who  enters  with  a  motive  that  God  cannot  approve,  who  enters 
for  ease,  for  applause,  for  gain. 

*•  In  selecting  topics  of  his  discourses  he  must  beware  of  in- 
dulging the  passion  for  novelty,  to  catch  the  fancy  of  the 
people  He  must  in  sobriety  of  spirit  choose  topics  in  his  most 
prayerful,  earnest,  sober  seasons,  topics  'approved  unto  God  ' 
He  must  not  decline  a  topic  through  fear  of  losing  the  favour 
of  his  hearers  if  he  deals  faithfully  with  their  souls  He  is  not 
to  study  to  p  ease  men,  to  conform  his  teachings  to  the  senti- 
ments of  his  hearers,  to  approve  himself  unto  the  influential, 
he  wealthy,   the  great  of  the  world  ;-he  is  to  conform   his 

~?ofrn\      T"^  ""^  ''^'^'  '^  ^^"^y  '^  show  himself  ap- 
ns^r^l?  1^^''^  T^"'''"'  ^"^^^  ^^  be  a  teacher  fitted  to 

ZeZV'.  ^'""^'^^  ''^  ^^'  ^^'^^"^  ^^^^^^ons  touching  the  wel- 
^  r.t^n  nf^r  ""'  "^"^"^""^^y'  the  school,  the  city,  the  admin- 
istration of  the  government,   the  education  of  the  youth    the 
unfication  and  guidance  and  welfare  of  the  people    The  man 

'st  'he  "''I  '"'iT  '"^  "^^^^  ^^^^  ^i"  in^all^these  greatT 
nos   hap^;?;''  "^'^"^  ''  "^^"  ^^^  '"^^t  ^^ceptable  to  God,  and 


so  J.  n    '""T-'"  «^'^^^^"^^nt  might  well  be  adopted  as  the 
soimon-rnaking  crml  of  every  young  prea<.her. 
liefore  he  had  yet  finished  college  life,  Austin  Craig 


f  \ 


1 


56    LIFE  A^D  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

began,  in  1843,  to  preach  occasional  sermons,  now  in  small 
country  churches,  now  in  dwelling-houses  far  from  all 
places  of  public  worship,  now  in  larger  towns  where  he 
met  more  metropolitan  audiences.  The  life  of  an  itiner- 
ant preacher  in  this  region  of  the  East,  now  so  far  re- 
moved fi-om  any  suggestion  of  the  frontier,  was  not  one 
constant  round  of  gaiety  and  ease.  It  was  serious  busi- 
ness starting  out  to  preach  in  those  days.  It  meant  toil, 
physical  as  well  as  mental ;  sacrifice  in  many  ways  ;  ex- 
posure to  inclement,  and  fre(|uently  dangerous,  weather  ; — 
its  wage  was  little  or  nothing.  He  who  entered  upon 
it, — be  he  a  youth  fresh  from  college  trjing  his  wings,  or 
some  unlettered  man  who  had  felt  ^a  call'  and  whose 
chief  assets  were  a  powerful  voice,  a  rude,  commanding 
eloquence,  a  smattering  of  theology,  and  a  Bible, — found 
it  beset  with  many  annoyances  and  sown  thick  with  dis- 
couragements. 

When  Austin  Craig  entered  upon  this  new  field  of 
labour  long  before  he  accepted  his  first  formal  call  to  a 
church,  three  things,  among  others,  were  conspicuous, — 
his  absolute  claiity  of  thought,  knowing  precisely  what 
he  wished  to  say  and  saying  it  so  that  his  hearers  should 
know  just  what  he  meant ;  a  keen  and  unfailing  judgment 
of  the  type  and  general  character,  as  well  as  the  needs,  of 
the  particular  people  to  whom  he  was  speaking,  and, 
third,  the  gentlest  tolerance  of  the  views  of  others.  All 
through  his  life  these  steadily  developed  and  they  ever 
formed  a  splendid  background  of  his  public  career. 

In  the  year  1843  he  ])reached  his  first  regular  sermon 
in  his  father's  house  in  Peapaek,  Xew  Jersey,  choosing 
foi*  his  text :  **  Then  Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent,  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for 
the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost"  (Acts  2  :  38). 

At  the   session   of  the  Christian  conference  of  New 


HIS  EARLY  PREACHING 


57 


Jersey,  held  the  following  year,  he  was  received  as  a 
member  and  licensed  to  preach,  and  soon  after  he  was 
ordained  to  the  ministry. 

As  he  went  about  preaching  from  place  to  place  he  met 
many  of  the  older  men  of  the  Christian  denomination  to 
which  he  had  turned,  drawn  by  the  simplicity  and  direct- 
ness of  its  scheme  of  belief.  A  large  number  of  these 
men  were  densely  ignorant,  vague  in  their  knowledge  of 
the  Bible,  misty  in  their  theology,  but,  withal,  for  the 
most  part,  honest  to  a  degree,  shrewd  and  earnest,  many 
of  them  endowed  with  unmistakable  talents.  Not  a  few 
of  them,  in  spite  of  themselves,  grew  sadly  jealous  of  this 
powerful  new  figure  among  them,  because  of  the  learning 
which  he  brought  to  his  service,  because  he  had  great 
etfectiveness  in  presenting  the  truth  in  ways  wholly  for- 
eign to,  and  wholly  beyond,  their  cruder  practices. 

But  in  his  relations  to  them  he  was  ever  considerate 
and  kindly  ;  never  ostentatious,  nor  patronizing,  nor  con- 
descending ;  ever  quick  to  see  their  faults  and  help  them 
in  private ;  ever  honest  and  unsparing  in  his  criticism 
whenever  one  asked  him  as  many  a  one  did.  What  is  the 
matter  with  my  sermons?  for  this  man  was  possessed  of 
a  virile  pen  that  could  be  wielded  on  occasion  with  pow- 
erful  effect.     It  took  gentleness  and  tact,  tact  of  a  high 
oKler,  on  the  part  of  this  slender  stripling  of  a  fellow 
uot  yet  out  of  college,  to  stand  before  some  stalwart,  griz- 
zled, consecrated,  bumptious   pulpit-pounder  and  show 
him  how  to  preach.     But  he  did  it  all  fearlessly  and,  best 
of  all,  he  did  that  which  he  did  to  the  last  day  of  his  life, 
he  won  these  men  to  him  in  love  and  held  them  as  with 
bands  of  steel. 

Frequently  letters  came  to  him  from  those  who  had  but 
sipped  of  the  cup  of  knowledge  bewailing  their  ignorance, 
asking  him  to  interpret  certain  cloudy  passages,  begging 
for  judgment  on  their  position  or  criticism  of  their  ef- 


] 


i 


58    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

forts.  Many  were  the  times  when,  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  wearing  and  exacting  toil,  for  he  was  carrying  on 
deep  studies  of  his  own  the  while,  he  would  take  up  an 
obscure  text  sent  him  by  some  old  preacher  who  did  not 
know  how  to  handle  it,  dissect  it,  point  out  its  various 
logical  steps,  and  suggest  the  arrangement  of  the  whole 
stumou  from  firstly  to  lastly.  Many  a  time  the  extra 
etlbrt  in  answeiing  these  requests— amounting,  practi- 
cally, to  a  writing  of  the  sermon  for  the  applicant,  en- 
croached heavily  upon  his  strength,  drawing  him  far  on 
into  the  dead  of  the  night  before  he  would  be  able  to 
complete  the  woik. 

Here,  for  example,  is  a  verbatim  extract  from  a  letter 
written  to  tlie  young  student— a  letter  which  brought 
forth  a  painstaking  and  splendidly  prepared  answer  :  it 
was  written  by  a  veteran  in  the  denomination,  well  known 
as  a  preacher  of  force,  wliose  lu'arei-s  would  scarce  expect 
that  he  had  availed  himself  of  such  a  service  from  an- 
other man.     The  extract  follows  : 

'*I  want  to  ask  a  favour  of  you.  The  22  of  Revelation  2 
virs.  Will  you  disect  that  text  in  all  its  parts  ?  Take  both 
virses  if  you  pleas,  i  and  2d.  What  is  the  river  of  The  tree 
of  life.  The  twelve  manner  of  fruit  c\:  Co.  Will  you  favour 
me  with  your  view  in  full  on  the  subject  written  in  the  Stile  of 
sermon,  if  it  takes  two  sheets  of  paper  or  more,  let  us  have  it, 
I'll  gladly  pay  the  postage  on  it.  Does  it  require  omnipotent 
power  to  create  ?  I  would  like  to  have  your  views  on  this  sub- 
ject. For  my  part  I  think  it  does  not  and  I  have  good  reason 
for  not  thinking  so  that  it  does,  but  still  My  view  may  be 
rong. 

"Austin,  is  it  a  fact  That  because was  anxious  to 

kiss  a  Girl  14.  or  15.  years  ago,  That  the  Peapack  Church  is 
now  destitute  of  preaching  ?  And  lacking  in  Sympathy  and 
love?  Bub,  don't  you  think  your  report  rather  lame  ?  When 
I  go  out  among  our  folks  I  am  asked  When  is  your  bro  Craig 
coming  up  to  [)ay  you  visit. 

**  1  don't  know  that  it  w^ould  be  news  to  you  to  say  that  it's 


HIS  EARLY  PREACHING  69 

tremendous  hot  weather.  Yesterday  I  had  a  regular  Pulpit 
^''^'^-  J,  i  ^^^^  y^"  how  it  happened.  The  Baptist  had  no 
nieetmg  (Iheir  mmister  being  sick)  so  they  came  to  our  meet- 
ing. And  they  with  our  own  congregation  filled  our  meeting 
House  ^over-flowing.  I  had  (as  Wagoner  would  say)  a  free 
time.  The  steam  was  up  and  you  know  how  it  goes  when 
such  IS  the  case  In  the  afternoon  I  held  a  meeting  in  a 
School-House.  We  had  a  warme,  heavenly  melting  time. 
After  preaching  we  had  a  good  prayer-meeting  and  I  have 
a  fond  hope  ^  that  My  yesterds  labour's  will  be  productive  of 
some  good.     Pleas  to  rember  me  to  your  Father's  family." 

Another  letter  contains  this  : 

**'rhe  subjects  upon  which  you  treated  in  your  letter  to  me 
are  mighty,  they  are  of  deep  importance,  they  are  instructive, 
and  most  heartily  do  1  thank  you  for  the  hints  and  the  sketch  you 

ZL'T:  1.  .  K  ^''"'  '^^.^^^^"^g  on  the  New  Birth.  I  shall 
shape  the  sketch  you  sent  into  a  sermon  and  preach  it  to  my 
congregation  and  they  will  receive  the  truths^herein;-bu^ 
perhaps  they  would  not  have  done  so  a  year  ago." 

There  wjus  one  (jnaint  old  minister  with  whom  Austin 
(h'arly  loved  to  keep  up  a  correspondence,  because  of  the 
Pitliy  nature  of  his  views  of  men  and  affairs;  because, 
too,  in  his  correspondence  he  was  able  to  do  the  old 
preadier  many  a  good  turn  in  the  way  of  sermon -suggest- 

miirho'l ''"''•'""''  '''''■'''^''  ^sermon-preparing. 
^^hIle  he  ^^.ts  giving  one  congregation  whom  he  was 
t^'inporarily  supplying  some  quite  strong  meat  the  Zl 
n.an  wrote  him  thus-the  extract  of  the  leLr  must  got 
Its  original  form  :  ^ 

kind  spirit  and  von  InnT  .!>  .     '^°"/°'^  ^  ^noiv  yours  to  be  a 

love  &  re  nect  vo"  .i^  '[^'"^ndous  innocent  that  they  will 

^  respect  you  the  more  for  your  honisty  and  cander.    You 


VS 


A 


I  *l 


/ 


60    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

liave  given  u.e  a  rich  and  racy  discription  of  their  mode  of 
Torshfi.  but  a  mode  as  I  think  not  very  congenial  w.th  you 
unsoi;l^ist.cated  mind.     Pleas  explane  to  me  if  you  can  how  U 
b  'hat  a  people  who  go  in  so  strong  for  what  You  call  anamal 
exctemen    should  be  so  fond  of  n.akeing  a  parade  m  shownig 
off   their    finery?     I    don't  understand  it.      1  always  thought 
iL  people  who  considered  then>selves  '  th.  refined  '  were  ap- 
posed to  animal  excitement  but  it  appears  that  the  people  go  in 
or  show  and  excitement  too,  but  1  suppose  you  will  show  them 
the  iniquity  of  the  one  and  the  folly  of  the  other  before  you 
leave  them.     Austin,  stay  as   long    there    is    any  prospect  of 
your  doing  good  if  they  use  you  well  and  you  can  stand  it. 

"  Don't  preach  too  much.     I  fear  that  three  times  a  day  is 
too  often  for  you.     Well  Bub  I  pray  that  you  may  do  grea 

^„a  i„ or  any  were  else  were  duty  may  call  you  and 

live  many  years  to  see  the  fruits  of  your  labours  of  love      Ulcl 
Uv.  H— -  of  Finesville  has  thrown  away  his  cam  and  taken  a 

Amusing  indeed  i.s  this  excerpt  from  a  letter  from  one 
of  his  old  friends  in  the  miuistiy  : 

"  One  week,  last  Sabbath,  I  held  forth  from  John  3 :  3.  I 
presented  the  great  truths  you  sent  me  in  the  sketch  of  your 
Lrmon  from  th' t  text.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  it  -s  weU  got 
off,  but  1  will  say  the  doctrine  was  well  received.  1  he  people 
^y  they  would  like  .0  have  it  sent  to  the  ra/MMor  pul^tca- 
tion.  I  told  them  I  did  not  think  that  our  good  old  Pathtr 
Hazen  would  insert  it  in  his  paper  for  fear  that  the  or  hodox 
would  not  like  it.  But  then  they  wanted  to  k"°«-;^h^'  '^'- 
orthodox  had  to  do  with  our  paper?  But  even  if  he«ouUl 
print  it  I  could  not  have  sent  it  until  I  had  consulted  the 
author  ami  he  was  in  Fall  River  !  If  you  have  any  not>on  that 
I  should  try  Hazen  in  reference  to  publishing  a  short  sketch  0 
a  sermon,  why  throw  it  in  shape  and  I  will  send  it  on  and  1 
will  try  him  ;  but  the  worst  of  it  is  it  would  have  to  appear 
under  my  name  in  order  to  keep  up  appearances  here  !  1  hope 
to  receive  some  more  sketches  on  important  points.  _ 

"  What  am  I  to  understand,"  in  a  later  letter,  "  by  e.  g.  1 
I  have  searched  the  grammar  Greek  and  Latin  phrases,  but 
can't  make  it  out.     Do  you  mean  by  e.  g.,  'ergo,   therefore f 


HIS  EARLY  PREACHING 


61 


You  may  think  I  ought  to  know.     Well,  I  ought  to,  I  confess, 
but  still  I  have  to  plead  a  lack  of  knowledge."  ' 

During  all  the  time  that  he  was  going  from  place  to 
place  preaching,  he  was  not  only  carrying  on  much  deep 
study  but  was  keeping  up  an  extensive  correspondence 
on  subjects  bearing  upon  his  future  life-work.     Between 
him  and  his  friend,  Eobert  Wright,  passed  many  letters 
full  of  the  most  miuute  and  searching  analysis  not  only  of 
oUsiure  paasiiges  of  Greek  but  of  questions  of  belief— of 
faith,   sanctilication,    election,    the   judgment,    baptism, 
eternal   punishment  and  reward.      They  had  both  been 
outspoken  in  the  chiss-room  when  they  were  at  Lafayette 
together  on  any  point  which  to  them  seemed  out  of  har- 
mony.     "Together  they   protested   to  the   faculty,"  a 
friend  of  later  years  wrote,  "  against  iiagan  text-books  in 
the  study  of  Greek  and  Latin.     They  could  not  under- 
stand why  they  should  be  required  to  .store  the  memory 
with  heathen  mythology  and  fables  rather  than  the  writ- 
ings of  Paul  in  order  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek 
language.     Hence  the  phrase,  which  will  be  recognized 
by  the  faculty  and  .students  of  this  institution  of  that 
time,  '  New  Testament  Greek.'     The  remonstrance  of  the 
two  young  men  wa.s  regarded  by  the  faculty  as  presump- 
tuous, aiul  .somewliat  in  the  nature  of  an  innovation,  if  not 
insubordinution.     Since,  however,  Lafayette  College  ha« 
a<h. pled  the  plan  suggested  by  the  two  young  students, 
and  it  obtains  al.so,  I  believe,  in  other  .schools." 

In  some  of  the  letters  that  pas.sed  between  him  and 

light  whole  pages  are  given  up  to  the  consideration  of 

a  single  text  or  a  chapter  bearing  upon  some  particularly 

wi't'h  VT\-  ?'  ^'"^^  ''^'  '«  "berally  interwoven 
with  the  EuglLsh  in  many  of  the  letters.     Both  young 

w^inT^        "^  strongly  influenced  by  the  wave  which 
wasjust  then  sweeping  up  against  a  hide-bound  orthodoxy. 


i 


i  ' 


62 


LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


In  one  of  Wright's  letters  written  from  Philadelphia  in 
July,  1844,  he  says : 

"  I  have  been  in  so  much  trouble  lately  that  I  have  not  studied 
much  in  regard  to  anything  but  doubts  as  to  the  plenary  in- 
spiration of  the  Scriptures,  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity,  justifica- 
tion by  faith  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  and  my  own  course  of 
conduct  and  pursuits  in  life.  I  do  not  think  I  could  conscien- 
tiously rest  unless  I  prepare  myself  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  but 
such  are  my  doubts  on  many  points  that  there  is  scarcely  any 
denomination  that  would  permit  me  to  preach  among  them. 
To  take  a  thorough  course  of  study  so  as  to  settle  those  doubts 
will  take  so  long  that  I  want  to  get  at  some  temporal  employ- 
ment besides  study  until  these  doubts  shall  have  been  set  at 
rest.  .  .  .  What  are  you  driving  at  now  and  how  do  you 
feel — strong  or  weak  in  grace  ?  " 

Very  many  other  letters  came  to  him,  and  were 
answered  in  kind,  going  into  the  most  abstruse  things  in 
theology.  One  letter  contained  nothing  siive  an  elaborate 
attempt  to  answer  points  which  Austin  had  hinted  at  in 
a  previous  letter,  but  it  took  four  thousiind  words  and 
more  upon  its  four  pages  of  paper  to  express  the  answer. 
Other  letters  to  him  were  fully  as  long,  some  longer. 
Unquestionably  out  of  this  protracted  epistolary  discus- 
sion he  derived  much  good,  as  it  strengthened  him  in  his 
course  towards  a  sane  and  liberal,  though  never  lax,  be- 
lief; but,  at  the  same  time,  it  all  told  heavily  upon  his 
strength.  *'  Do  you  sit  up  straight  and  take  proper 
exercise,  and  is  your  health  right  good?"  his  father 
writes.  *'  Be  very  cautious,"  he  adds,  having  in  mind 
the  prevailing  spread  of  liberalism.  *^  With  the  in- 
nocence of  a  dove  combine  the  wisdom  of  a  serpent. 
Don't  let  your  liberality  for  all  denominations  make  you 
enemies  so  that,  although  you  mean  no  harm,  others 
might  turn  it  to  your  disadvantage.  You  had  better  not 
go  to  the  Catholic  or  any  strange  meetings  more  than 


i 


HIS  EARLY  PREACHING 


63 


once.     You  are  young  yet.     Listen  to  the  advice  of  riper 

Strong  pressure  was  brought  to  bear,  also,  in  these 
itiueraut  preaching  days,  when  many  heard  him  in  dif- 
fc-rent  parts  of  the  states  adjoining  his  own,  to  Influence 
huu  to  embrace  the  spirit  and  even  the  letter  of  orthodoxy 
Sometimes  this  took  the  form  of  peraonal  advice,  some" 
tunes  It  came  in  the  way  of  letters.  Some  of  these  letter 
contain  tbousjiuds  of  words  of  argument  to  prove  the 
sombre  things  of  Calvinism. 

"  You  ask,"  writes  one  of  these  men  who  would  keen  the 
young  preacher  wuhin  their  man  made  bounds,  '• '  Is  election  he 

wav  '  °  Go'd  "fo".'  ""■  "T  """'  '     '  -""W'answ^rthi  rthis 
way.      God   foreknew  those  who  would  repent      He  deter 

m.„e,l  such  as  He  would  save,  not  simply  be^u  e  thlv  reDen; 

a  one  but  because  He  determined  to  save  them.     I  cannot  ex 


In  the  .nidst  of  controversial  writing  that  the  answering 

x(..  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  with  the  prepara- 

o     of  sermons  and  the  making  of  I'ong  journeys   C 

a  <1  fatiguing  particularly  to  one  so  frai ,  his  time  waf 

fi  -I    o  the  utmost  limit.     There  were  compeltiZ 

mrod  .  i       ^^  ^  ^""""^  ^™™  •'"^  f*"-  ^''«'»  he  had  pr« 
pared  a  sermon  outline  ;-it  is  quoted  verbatim  : 

Crl$  Tneernrt"to'h/°  ''T^  "e  of  a  '  Certain  Austin 
w.n  ever  ^^^^Z^^Z^  Jtal-pE  m^y  h  J^^! 


^ 


64    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

you  say  you  still  expect  to  viset  us  this  summer  or  fall  And  ask 
at  what  time  I  would  prefer  a  viset.  Well  I  would  prefer  to 
have  a  viset  this  summer  then  in  the  fall  also  m  the  VVmter 
And  again  in  the  Spring  and  to  have  you  to  stay  three  months 
each  time  !  I  thank  you  for  the  usefuel  instruction  contained 
in  your  letter  and  I  hope  to  proffit  by  it.  1  have  not  had  that 
time  to  devote  study  that  I  aught  to  have  sins  I've  been  here. 
I  would  be  glad  to  receive  a  letter  from  you  often  and 
i  know,  that  if  it  give  you  half  the  pleasure  to  Write,  that 
it  does  me  to  read  them,  you  would  write  very  often,  give  me 
your  best  thoughts  on  paper.'' 

Austin  had  taken  occasion  in  one  of  his  letters  to  cau- 
tion an  old  preacher  against  harbouring  bitter  feelings 
against  another  preacher  with  whom  he  had  had  some 
difficulty.     This  characteristic  response  followed  : 

"  Austin,  are  there  not  some  men  in  the  earth  that  you  doe 
not  respect  as  high  as  you  doe  others  ?  doe  not  sum  men  per- 
sue  a  course  of  conduct  that  has  your  most  hearty  approbation  ? 
And  are  there  not  others  who  practice  on  such  principles  that 
you  can  not  approve  ?  Well  doe  you  regard  them  with  a  bitter 
spirit  ?  Are  there  not  degrees  of  love  or  respect  ?  May  I  not 
respect  one  man  more  than  another?  And  yet  not  regard,  the 
one  I  love  less.     *  With  a  bitter  spirit '  ?     It  seems  to  me  so." 

One  cannot  forbear  the  following  from  the  same  minis- 
ter written  after  Austin  had  visited  him  and  preached  for 
him  a  number  of  times  : 

''The Baptists  are  trying  to  crush  us,  They  have  had 

here  for  three  weeks  and  four  other  Ministers,  Whilest  poor 

is  all  a  lone.    has  been  here  but  he  done  no  good. 

tiiat   I  know  of.     When  you  left  us  our  meetings  continuoed  to 

in  crees  in  intrist,  But  when came  there  was  a  rush  at  the 

Baptist  House.  Now  I  want  you  to  return  to  this  place  as  soon 
as  you  can  get  here.  Now  my  bro  for  the  sake  of  truth,  and 
the  cause  for  which  we  plead,  come,  oh  come  !  If  your 
clothes  are  not  ready  for  a  Journey  dont  stand  for  that,  pack 
them  up  and  come  Just  as  you  are  We  have  plenty  of  sope  and 
water  Worme  hearts  and  willing  hands,  so  come  on  my  dear 


HIS  EARLY  PREACHING  65 

bro.    and   I  will   try  and    keep  things  a  Mooveing  until  you 
come.     Come.     Come,     doe  come. ' ' 

In  another  letter  he  quotes  two  expressions  of  the  min- 
ister who  was  preaching  such  rousing  sermons  to  the 
Baptists  : 

•;  1  must  give  you  a  specimen  of 's  elequence.     '  It  is 

as  impossable  for  a  UnUariin  or  a  Universalist  to  go  to  Heaven 
as  for  a  codfish  to  climb  that  iron  (Pointing  to  an  iron  rod  on 
V  aich  the  stove-pipe  rest's)  rod  tail  foremest  with  a  loaf  of 
bread  in  his  mouth.' 

in  'liy  It""  '""  ^  "^  ""'^'''^ '"  "'^^'"'  *=  ^  ^^'^^  ^°'^ 

More  and  more  frequently  the  lettera  came  asking  the 
young  preacher  to  speak  here,  there,  everywhere.  Now 
and  again  there  is  a  minor  strain  in  them,  as  witness  the 
following  from  a  preacher  then  quite  well  known  in  New 
Jei-sey : 

"My  time  is  wasted  here  and  my  prospects  of  heaven  de- 
creased :  for  instead  of  having  anything  to  help  and  encourage 
me,  everything  tends  to  discourage  me  and  sour  my  spirit  I 
have  made  up  my  mind  to  endure  like  a  stoical  philosopher  all 

i  "'?.'h"'  '^'  "'"'  '^f  ".™'  ^^^  ''^'"«  among  those  whose 
hearth  beat  in  unison  with  mine,  who  cheer  me  on  and  hold  ud 

my  hands  in  the  arduous  labours  of  the  ministry.     How  it  is 

they  wish  me  to  stay  I  cannot  see ;  for  so  far  as  I  can  see,  there 

things  ,n  this  world.     .     .     .     Sometimes  I  think  that  I  wdl 

mv  eZK"^'"  ^"^'^'^"'^^  n°r  °ff«^  any  reproofs,  making  a 
my  efforts    n  such  a  manner  as  will  be  most  hkely  to  olease 

tTi  r  ""]%"°"^  f  ^™°°""y  a«  P°^^'ble  until  spring,-^gfve 

onTcience  .^nd^H   ''^  '  f}  ^^uder  '  and  leave  them.   Vmy 

conscience  and  ideas  of  duty  do  not  seem  disposed  to  let  me 

effecf  "rLlj"^"""?  '5  ''^r  ^""^  "^ade  my  arrangements  to  that 

equest  „S  nfeToTn  V'''''  ^""^  ^  ^^urch  in  Pennsylvania 

two  week!  eirlilr  I  "h       ,T  '  preacher-had  I  had  this  note 

iwo  weeks  earlier  I  should  have  probably  gone  myself     It  is  a 


' 
_..»     )' 


GG 


LIFE  AND  LETTP:RS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


HIS  EARLY  PREACHING 


67 


small  church  in  the  backwoods  and  they  are  poor,  but  yet  they 
are  rich,  rich  in  faith  and  good  works.  Many  sweet  and 
precious  seasons  have  I  enjoyed  with  them  and  now,  when  I 
write  of  them,  my  heart  warms  and  swells  and  1  fain  would  be 
away  from  this  cold  and  lifeless  church  and  be  with  them  and 
share  their  toil,  their  poverty,  and  their  love.  I  have  given 
up  riches,— my  father  was  wealthy,— and  worldly  honour  for 
Christ,  and  my  heart  yearns  to  be  with  them.  How  dreary  is 
this  place  to  me  when  my  heart  is  frozen  by  the  polar  coldness 
of  the  icy  hearts  of  those  who  profess  to  serve  my  Master. 

"Could  you,  my  dear  Austin,  go  and  serve  them  a  while? 
There  is  a  field  contiguous  to  it  where  you  would  have  ample 
room  to  exert  your  strength  and  you  would  be  within  twenty- 
five  miles  of  Plymouth.  The  compensation  would  not  be  great, 
yet  large  when  we  compare  their  ability  with  that  of  many  in 
this  state.  They  say  in  their  letter  that  they  can  pay  $50  for, 
I  suppose,  one-fourth  of  the  time.  This,  you  see,  is  at  the  rate 
of  $200  per  year,  which  is  better  than  most  of  the  churches  of 
my  acquaintance  in  this  state  do.  .  .  .  There  is  less  pride 
and  more  piety  among  them  than  here.  The  country  is  hilly, 
the  air  salubrious,  the  water  pure ;  hence  it  is  healthy.  Sup- 
pose you  go  and  try  it !  I  think  I  am  a  dunce  that  I  did  not 
go  myself.  When  will  you  come  and  see  me?  I  will  get  the 
worth  of  my  board  and  washing  out  of  you  in  instruction,  for 
I  am  stuck  fast  in  the  Greek  verb." 

Before  passing  to  the  first  formal  call  wliidi  the  young 
minister  received  after  be  bad  returned  to  Lafayette 
College  and  completed  his  course  there,  we  may  not 
do  brtter,  iu  order  to  give  a  picture  in  miuiature  of 
the  life  he  had  been  living,  than  to  quote  from  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  in  later  days,  iu  answer  to  certain  ques- 
tions asked.  The  letter  forms  the  substance  of  a  later 
chapter  ;  the  extract  follows  : 

"  I  was  not  in  my  youth  trained  to  any  handicraft  by  which 
I  could,  if  need  were,  gain  my  bread.  I  was  kept  at  schcol 
most  of  my  vears  until  I  was,  say,  twentv.  Of  sonrie  of  my 
schooling  I  did  not  see  the  use  at  the  time.  I  think  it  has 
helped  me  to  serve  more  efficiently  than  I  otherwise  could  what 
has  seemed  to  be  my  calling  among  men.     My  attention  was 


I 


turned  to  the  ministry  in  my  last  year  at  school  (1843).  I 
began  to  preach  in  that  year,  here  and  there,  as  occasion 
offered.  In  May,  1844,  I  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  New 
Jersey  Christian  Conference,  with  which  body  I  have  held  my 
membership  ever  since.  I  was  admitted  as  a  '  licentiate.'  The 
year  following,  I  was  ordained  in  pursuance  of  a  vote  of  the 
Conference  passed  at  its  spring  session  in  1845. 

"In   the  years  1843,  '44  and  '46,   I  preached  as  often  as 
opportunity  was  afforded  me,  a  Sunday  here,  an  evening  there, 
in  church,  schoolhouse,  or  dwelling,  as  the  call  happened  to 
come   to   me.     Most    of  my  preaching  was  with   brethren  — 
ministers   of   the    New   Jersey    Christian   Conference.     I   was 
engaged    thus   whenever   I    had   a   call;— quite  frequently  at 
times ;  then  again,  for  intervals,  at  home  studying.     I  sought 
no  charge— no   pastoral   charge,— as  I   felt   myself  too  inex- 
})enenced    for   that.     Nor   did    I    seek   compensation   for  my 
preaching.     1   considered   my  experience  compensation:   and 
was  glad  whenever  brethren  would  give  me  an  opportunity  to 
preach  in  their  churches,  or  in  schoolhouses.     I  don't  remem- 
ber to  have  received   anything— not  even   a  dollar— for  my 
preaching  during   the  first  two  years  of  my  ministry.     I  am 
sure  that  all  I  received  during  the  first  four  years  of  my  min- 
istry (say  to  the  close  of  1846)  would  not  pay  my  expenses  of 

neu/rp   'f   ^'p  "months-January  to  May,    1846-which  I 
spent  at  Easton,  Pennsylvania,  learning  Hebrew. 

"In  July,  '46,   I   began   to  preach   more  frequently:   went 

ongh  most  o    the  churches  in  New  Jersey,   from  north  to 

E lie  *B   vt     '  Tu  ^V"""'"*"^  college-as  we  called  it. 

d    e  sf;      WhhT^'?'  ""[  ^?"'  Conference,  remembers  it,  I 

lare  say.     \\  th  him  I  rode  from  Northern  New  Jersey  to  the 

m  adnnf.  on  ^  h''  '"  ^^^^^.^-^i^'  g-ng  and  returnin'g,  and 
c  urd  e^in  V  7^'  ^  ^T"^  ""^  ^^^^^^^^  '^  ^^out  uVenty 
'.ne  of  L.rl"'"7'  '"^  ^"  '^''  Pennsylvania  border.     To 

n-n      But   L't"''^''  "^^  r''  '''''  ''^'^''^*  ^g-in  and 
't^iin.     But,  as  I  now  remember,  I  received  no  money- not 

tven  expenses  of  travel-for  these  preachings."  ^ 

It  was,  naturally,  fortunate  that  his  father  was  in  such 
financial  circumstances  that  he  could  help  in  the  matter 
01  personal  expenses,  something  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  but 
^w  of  the  Itinerant  preachers  who  grew  gray  in  a  serv- 
ice of  great  toil  and  manifold  hardships 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE 


69 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE 

DOWN  in  a  narrow  vallc'y  in  the  New  Jersey  liills, 
about   twenty  five  miles  from  New  York  City, 
'I  little  town  had  been  established  by  a  large 
„.undaetnrer.     It  w.u.  ealled  Feltville,  after  its  proprie- 
tor  David  Felt.     The  town  was  ehietly  made  up  ot  his 
employees.     It  was  not  a  large  place,  but  the  workmen 
were  of  a  high  type  and  it  made  up  for  quantity  in  its 
ciualitv      Mr.  Felt  was  a  leading  Unitarian  m  iNew  lork. 
He  wished  his  people  to  have  regnlar  religious  services. 
For  a  time  there  had  been  preaching  in  rotation  from 
pastors  of  diiYerent  denominations,  but  this  was  not  satis- 
factory all  around,  nor  was  it  deemed  feasible  to  estab- 
lish a^uimber  of  weak  and  ineftectual  churches  merely  to 
keep  up  denominational  lines. 

So  it  was  decided  that  there  should  be  one  church  to 
which  all  could  go.  How  to  get  this  church  in  ninnmg 
order  and  maintain  it,-that  was  the  problem.  The  ma- 
chinerv  of  the  church  was  ready  ;-it  only  needed  a  man 
in  command  who  would  unite  all  the  divei-se  faiths  and 
preaching  to  them  the  common  Gospel  of  Christ,  nom 

them  united.  •    r.     •    ^ 

There  had  been  manv  efforts  to  secure  Austin  Craig  lor 
parishes  here  and  there.  His  talents  were  recognized 
over  a  wide  range  of  country  and  he  was  so  catholic  in 
his  iaith  and  so  convincing  in  his  speech  there  was 
scarcely  a  denomination  but  would  have  welcomed  him 
to  its  communion  to  preach  as  he  wished.  Even  among 
the  ultra  orthodox  there  were  many  who  could  see  in  the 

68 


z 

I 


sane  and  powerful,  never  flaccid  or  weak-kneed,  preach- 
ing of  the  young  man  something  which  all  their  depend- 
ence upon  man-devised  interpretations  of  the  Bible  could 
not  give  to  them.  The  ministers  of  the  older  orthodox 
churches  were  no  less  inclined  to  him  than  the  members 
of  their  flocks.  One  of  the  former  writing  from  Rah  way, 
Xew  Jersey,  in  January,  1848,  a  man  who  had  been 
many  times  a  visitor  at  the  home  of  Moses  Craig  and  who 
had  been  deeply  interested  in  Austin,  put  it  in  this  way, — 
and  his  view  might  be  taken  as  a  conservative  statement 
of  the  opinion  of  the  average  orthodox  preacher  : 

"  In  your  letter  you  stated  your  acquaintance  with  ministers 
of  various  orthodox  denominations  had  not  afforded  you  the 
pleasure  which  you  had  anticipated  but  that  you  had  been  re- 
garded '  with  suspicion  and  distrust.'  I  regret  this  but  it  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  arising  from  personal  considerations,  not  a 
suspicion  of  yourself  but  rather  a  suspicion  of  the  soundness,  or 
unsoundness,  of  your  religious  faith.  I  do  not  say  that  this  is 
an  apology  for  discourtesy,  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  is  the 
ground  of  any  indisposition  to  Christian  fellowship  that  you 
may  have  observed.  You  know  the  tenacity  with  which  the 
cardinal  doctrines  are  held  by  the  orthodox;  this  is  to  be  com- 
mended, but  it  should  never  supersede  the  law  of  love. 

"And  now,  my  dear  sir,  allow  me  to  say,  that  while  I  have 
never  cherished  any  other  sentiments  towards  you  than  those  of 
respect  and  affection,  I  have  yet  deeply  regretted  that  you 
could  not  see  your  way  clear  to  adopt  the  doctrines  of  our 
church  or  of  some  other  orthodox  branch.  This  I  have  de- 
sired;  for  your  own  enjoyment  in  religion  would,  I  think,  be 
thereby  promoted,  and  a  more  extended  field  of  usefulness 
would  be  before  you.  I  hope,  my  dear  sir,  you  will  not  deem 
my  freedom  of  expression  as  an  evidence  of  disrespect  but  as  an 
evidence  of  my  affection  and  the  esteem  in  which  I  have  held 
your  character  and  talents." 

From  letters  like  this  no  doubt  the  young  preacher 
turned  with  relief  to  such  an  expression  as  the  following 
from  another  young  pastor,  now  already  settled : 


I  t 


i 


70    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"  It  is  really  amusing  to  see  how  some  very  good  people  are 
shocked  if  men  dare  to  think  for  themselves.  They  have  been 
so  long  accustomed  to  see  men  think  in  orthodox  straight- 
jackets  that  ihey  are  alarmed  and  very  fearful  that  they  will  do 
mischief  if  they  should  have  the  temerity  to  throw  off  the 
straight-jacket  and  be  intellectual  and  moral  freemen.  For  my 
own  part,  1  am  not  intimidated  by  their  fears  nor  alarmed  by 
their  cries  of  danger.  If  I  fmd  it  convenient  to  express  my 
idea  in  language  that  is  not  found  in  the  Bible  1  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  so  doing. 

"  I  believe  nature  as  much  a  revelation  of  God  as  the  Bible 
and  I  can  learn  lessons  of  goodness,  power,  and  wisdom  from 
nature  as  effectively  as  I  can  from  the  Bible.  Science  should 
be  the  handmaid  of  religion  as  nature  is  the  twin  sister  of  the 
Bible,  and  I  regret  that  the  misguided  zeal  of  many  pious  men 
has  led  them  to  set  the  revelations  of  God  in  His  Word  so  far 
above  the  revelation  of  Himself  in  His  works.  'But,'  says  a 
pious  brother  of  the  Old  School,  •  nature  may  be  misunder- 
stood.' I  answer,  So  may  the  Bible,  and  1  believe  that  one  is 
not  more  frequently  misunderstood  than  the  other.  This  plan 
that  some  have  of  setting  God  at  war  with  nature  and  revela- 
tion with  science  is  I  think  most  pernicious.  Man  should  be 
taught  to  see  God  in  every  flower  and  every  tree,  in  the  chang- 
ing seasons,  in  the  rising  and  setting  sun,  and  in  all  the  varied 
and  beautiful  phenomena  of  nature.  When  this  is  done  we 
may  expect  an  enlightened  piety  and  will  see  men  learn  lessons 
in  wisdom  and  holiness  from  nature  as  well  as  from  revelation. 
The  narrow  and  contracted  views  that  have  been  instilled  into 
the  minds  of  the  people  by  a  bigoted  and  frequently  ignorant 
clergy  (not  ignorant  of  scholastic  theology  and  orthodox  non- 
sense, but  of  the  sublime  nature  and  perfection  of  God  as  they 
are  seen  in  the  works  of  nature)  have  disqualified  them  to  relish 
or  appreciate  the  beauties  of  nature  or  even  to  look  upon  the 
starry  heavens  as  emblems  of  grandeur,  purity  and  perfec- 
tion.    .     .     . 

"  I  rejoice  to  believe  that  men  are  beginning  to  lose  their 
relish  for  mysteries  and  to  desire  plain,  practical  common- 
sense  views  relative  to  the  nature  of  God  and  the  duties  of 


man. 


tf 


Back  and  forth  the  young  man  would  have  been  tossed 
by  the  conflicting  waves  about  him  had  not  his  craft  been 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE  n 

a  staunch  and  reliable  one,  sailing  calmly  and  unerringly 
towards  the  safest  of  all  ports.     Something  in  his  manner 
(»f  preaching  and  in  his  line  of  thought  and  interpretation 
of  the  Bible  appealed  strongly  to  those  who  were  already 
going  into  battle,  openly  or  covertly,  against  the  old  or- 
thodoxy; and  yet,  so  tenacious  Wiis  he  of  vital  truth   so 
absolutely  loyal  to  what  he  believed  to  be  the  true  teach- 
ing of  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments,  he  could  not 
be  swerved  a  hair's  breadth  in  either  direction  from  what 
ho  believed  to  be  the  right.     If  he  were  asked  to  preach 
iM  a  Unitarian  or  a  Universalist  church  he  preached  pre- 
cisely the  same  sort  of  Gospel  that  he  would  present  in 
t  t^-  l>Inest  of  all  blue  Calvinistic  atmospheres.     He  was 
absolutely  fearless  and  uncompromising  :  he  was  so  at  the 
>cgiMiiing,  he  was  so  at  the  end  of  the  splendid  years  of 
Jus  teaching  and  ministry. 

Down  in  the  New  Jei-sey  Valley  a  work  was  awaiting 
mn.  A  formal  call  had  come  to  him  to  take  charge  of 
'';;  ^•Inirch  in  Feltville.  Perhaps  the  nature  of  the  work 
be  ore  him  and  his  own  views  upon  it  may  not  better  be 
>"t  than  by  <pioting  this  letter  from  him,  written  a  little 
=i<*r,  alter  he  had  served  the  Feltville  church  so  success- 
lull}  and  had  been  called  to  a  larger  field  : 

cemirreceillTh^^  '"  f  T^  ^^"  ^""^^^  ^^^^"^^^  ^^ich  I  re- 
centi)  received  by  post.     It  speaks  for  itself: 

"  '  Dear  Sir  :  ''  '  ^'^^""'^^'^  ^'  J'>  ^P^^^^  ^^52. 

^liffe^en^linSr!^'^'^/^^^^  '°"^P^^^^  ^^  P^^^^"^  «^ 

tlie  serv  ces  ofT  I  T  ^  Christians,  are  desirous  of  securing 
to  laH^drall  .I'm  '"^  minister  of  the  Gospel  who  is  willing 
croun/  nn^  r  '^^^^'■^^^"'^"1'  and  come  among  us  on  common 

!^"ited  Tn  a  Hne  ^e^r^T^'  ^T^l^  ^^^^^^ed,  but  cannot  be 

Portable  sup  ort^^  %  ^"•^^^"''  ^^^«^^^  man  a  com- 

support  uill  be  secured,  as  well  as  the  sympathy  and 


72    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

cooperation  of  the  inhabitants.  The  following  resolutions  were 
passed  unanimously  by  them  at  a  recent  meeting.  If  you  can 
direct  us  to  such  a  man,  you  will  confer  a  favour  by  addressing 
the  undersigned,  by  post,  immediately. 

*'  'S.  B.  Jennings, 
*'  '  F.  W.  Wilcox, 
"  '  Wm.  C.  Brooks, 
**  *  Committee. 

*"  I.  Resolved.  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed 
to  take  into  consideration  the  subject  of  selecting  a  suitable 
person  as  pastor  and  minister  of  this  village,  from  any  denomina- 
tion, provided  he  can  meet  with  us  on  common  ground  of 
Christian  Fellowshii).  And  all  persons  of  every  denomination 
of  Christians  shall  have  full  and  free  privilege  to  all  the  ordi- 
nances which  may  be  administered  in  this  place. 

"  *  2.  Resolved.  That  ministers  of  all  denominations  shall 
have  free  use  of  the  pulpit  whenever  any  opportunity  offers 
rendering  it  convenient. 

***3.  Resolved.  That  we  shall  deprecate  any  preaching 
or  ministration  from  this  pulpit,  of  a  sectarian  character,  as 
highly  detrimental  to  the  cause  of  pure  Christianity  in  this 
village.' 

"This  call  for  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  comes  from  the  in- 
habitants of  a  manufacturing  village  near  Newark,  N.  J.  The 
village  possesses  a  chapel,  a  schoolhouse,  a  public  library,  a 
Sabbath-school  library,  etc.  He,  who  was  recently  their  min- 
ister, having  resigned  his  charge  there,  they  are  now  desirous 
of  settling  a  competent  person  to  minister  to  them  in  holy 
things.  The  inhabitants  of  the  village  though  of  different  de- 
nominations of  Christians — Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Methodists, 
Episcopalians,  Unitarians,  etc.  (as  I  knew  them  formerly),  in- 
stead of  dispersing  in  handfuls  on  Sundays,  each  to  his  own 
denominational  church,  here  and  there,  wisely  unite  as  a  whole 
community  to  sustain  in  their  midst  Christian  institutions  and 
Gospel  ministrations. 

*'  The  community  is  able  to  sustain  one  church,  but  not  two. 
Herein  its  case  is  identical  with  that  of  very  many  villages  and 
communities.  To  such  villages  the  practical  question  is.  Shall 
we  have  one  united  church,  or  none  at  all  ?— One  church  to 
unite  the  people  and  be  a  blessing  to  them,  most  communities 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE 


73 


could  have,  if  they  would  let  alone  their  many  frivolous  and  un- 
productive questions  of  speculative  theology.  But  this  they  are 
not  always  wise  enough  to  do;  and  so  we  find  attempts  made 
to  support  two  and  sometimes  three  churches  in  communities 
where  indeed  only  one  could  be  well  supported,  and  thus  the 
spirit  of  injurious  worldly  rivalry  is  begotten,  '  the  things  that 
make  for  peace '  are  forgotten,  and  neighbour  with  neighbour 
engages  in  an  unholy  sectarian  strife,  until  little  of  the  Christian 
spirit— the  real  church— i^m^ws  among  them 

-The  inhabitants  of  Feltville  happily  determine  to  pursue  a 
dilfcrcnt  course.      They  are  sensible  of  the  importance  of  hav- 
nig  Christian  ministrations  and  gospel  institutions  maintained 
in  their  must,      fheyare  anxious  to  have  the  Gospel  preached 
to  them.      Ihey  determine  to  sustain  one  church  in  their  village 
"  U  hat  church— that  is,  what  denominational  church,  shal'l 
it  be  ?    Baptist,  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  Episcopalian  or  Unita- 
rian ?     No,   none  of  these:   for  they  say  that  they  'cannot  be 
umted  many  one  sect.'     What  then  ?     Will  one  tell  them  that 
in  that  case  they  had  better  not  be  united  at  all  ?     Why   the 
patriots  and  liberalists   in  Europe  have  tried  to  secure  liberty 
for  themselves,  heretofore,  by  working  in  sectional  and  party 
bands      I  am  a  Pole,  and  1  a  Frenchman,  and  I  an  Italian, 
and  1  a  Hungarian,  said  the  patriots  and  democrats  of  the  dif- 
ferent  nations.      Party  prejudices-national   prejudices,    were 
a  lowed  to  separate  them  into  factions  without  organizatbn 
and  the  result  (not  difficult  to  have  foreseen)  was  failure     The 
struggle  of  1848  showed   the  weakness  of  factional  efforts  of 
democracy  against  united  despotisms.      What  would   you  say 
to  the  defeated  forces  of  democracy?     Would  you  say   unite 
consolidate  your  forces  against  the  common  foe^^o  ,  would  you 
nd  ann'.r  "'  T'  '^^^^^""^  ^  ^^^^^'^^  ^^"^  ^^^^^^^al  feeling 
c   V  s'e     fn  r^    t  '"''  "'^^"^  '^'"^  ^'^^''^  ^h^"  '^  have  it  oth^ 
C  theTh.L  1      "V','^"'''  "'  ^^'"^'  Hungarians,  Italians? 
fr^no  loLer  H     ''"'1  differently.     Pole,  Hungarian,  Italian, 
arc  no  longer  the  watchwords ;  but  Union  for  Liberty      And 

r.inT  lli e'd  h"^  "^"   '""^  ""'^^^  democracies  into^he  fieW 
agant  allied  despotism.     And  Heaven  succeed  the  Right  ' 

be  true  t'hat  '  th^  Tih^'^^'u"^  '"  ^^^^^^^^^  ^hall  it'always 
^\^T^^^TiJ^^^^  their  generation 

T\l2  A'  }  ''^'^r '^"  ""^  hght  '  ?  Shall  we  always  say,  I  am 
Untarian?  '/h^  /  Presbyterian,  and  I  a  Friend,  and  H 
unitarian  ?-and  endeavour  thus  with  divided  and  ill-marshalled 


/ 


74    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

forces  to  put  to  rout  the  consolidated  hosts  of  wickedness  ? 
Shall  we  continue  to  expend  our  Christian  energies  in  com- 
l)aiing  each  other,  because  of  opinional  diversities,  while  the 
enemy  advances  steadily  upon  us  ?  1,  for  one,  say,  for  Heaven's 
sake,  nay  !  In  God's  name,  let  there  be  a  truce  to  this  skir- 
mishing and  division  in  the  Christian  family  !  Let  Ephraim 
no  more  vex  Jutlah  !  Let  sectarian  interests  and  zeals  be  for- 
gotten— while  with  solid  phalanx  we  go  up,  in  the  strength  of 
God,  to  put  to  rout  the  hosts  of  darkness,  and  give  deliverance 
to  the  world  !  " 

To  iind  a  mau  who  bhoiild  minister  to  all  of  these  varying 
beliefs,  who  sliould  unite  them  all  in  service,  who  should 
destroy  no  one's  faith,  but  strengthen  the  faith  of  all — 
this  was  the  man  the  eonimittee  believed  they  had  found 
in  Austin  Craig,  and  siieh,  indeed,  was  the  man  they 
found. 

The  proprietor  of  the  town,  as  noted,  was  by  faith  a 
Unitarian  and  so  the  installation  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  H.  W.  Bellows,  of  New  York,  one  of  the 
famous  Unitarian  preachers  of  the  day,  who  had  become 
greatly  interested  in  xVustin  Craig  and  who  remained  his 
steadfast  friend  until  he  died.  The  installation  was  on 
the  23d  of  June,  1S50.  IMinisters  of  other  denominations 
in  the  vicinity  took  part.  It  was  an  auspicious  introduc- 
tion to  the  first  formal  pastorate.  Steadily  the  young 
man  won  his  way.  Now  and  then  there  might  be  obsta- 
cles, it  was  in  the  very  nature  of  things  that  such  there 
should  be,  but  these  obstacles  he  overcame  in  the  same 
tactful,  gentle,  but  never  vacillating  way  that  distin- 
guished him  through  all  his  life.  His  manner  of  pro- 
cedure was  not  to  dodge  the  iasue  whatever  it  was,  but  to 
nuvt  it  manfully  and  fight  it  to  the  end  in  the  open. 
Frequently  he  invited  ministers  of  other  denominations 
located  in  the  region  round  about  to  share  his  pulpit  with 
him  or  to  jircach  in  his  ])laco.  Often  a  young  Catholic 
priest,  who  had  quite  a  number  of  communicants  among 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE 


75 


the  workmen  of  the  village,  would  unite  with  Mr.  Craig 
in  the  service,  one  taking  a  portion,  the  other  the  rest, 
and  all  in  the  gentlest  harmony.  The  young  priest  was 
Bernard  John  3IcQuaid,  now  Bishop  of  Rochester,  New 
York.  In  Mr.  Craig's  ''Journal  of  Correspondence  ''  are 
entries  of  several  letters  asking  the  young  priest  to  bap- 
tize children  of  Catholic  parents. 

Interest  steadily  deepened  in  his  work.  The  attendance 
upon  his  meetings  was  large,  the  sympathy  sustained. 
II..'  made  men  think.  He  made  them  think  on  right 
lint  s.  He  compelled  them  to  seize  the  essential.  He 
taught  them  how  to  detect  veneer.  He  showed  them  that 
which  was  genuine  and  exposed  to  them  that  which  was 
spurious. 

While  he  was  in  the  midst  of  his  pastoral  labours  he 
wiis  yet  carrying  on  his  studies  and  keeping  up  a  large 
correspondence  in  which  many  vital  questions  as  to  re- 
ligion or  the  state  were  discussed.  But  whoever  thinks 
that  a  powerful  intellectual  manhood  is  developed  with- 
out struggle  falls  far  short  of  the  truth.  Writing  from 
FHt  ville  to  a  friend,  a  few  months  after  his  installation,  he 
Siivs :  ' 


And  .n  T  '  ^'  ^''°'  ^^"^"^  ^^"  ^  '^^^y  ^^  "^^"tal  conflict, 
he  mi  v'tn  l^^^^Tu  '"""'u  ^^^'y  "^^"  ^^'h^  h^s  yielded  himself 
re^d  CarMe'.Tc;'\'  ^'p  ^'  ^^"^^  ^^"^^  ^^^^"  ^^^  ^ave  leisure, 
v.trh  th!^  f  y'''''  ^"''"''^^  '-'^  y^"  have  not  read  it-and 
trLls  J.'^h  ,^'"^fr'"^^T''^  ^"  f^'"^'^  "^"^^-  ^  have  often  severe 
con tel^  ^r^M  A^  ^^r^^^^  tabernacle  is  the  scene  of  many 
ch  m  a  ri.h  ^T  ^'^'  ^  ^""''^  ^eld  possession,  that  he 
em  m  fn  l^t'  ^""^  ^'  ''^"'^>'  ^PP^^^^  ^he  ^  New  Man '  in  his 
time  hi  ^.f  ^P^^s^ss^on  of  his  own.  I  hardly  know  some- 
times how  It  will  turn  at  last. 

and  ?''^''°"^"y  .the  ^  Old   Man  '  goes  away  for  a  few  days 

no  s^chTT  T't  t''''^'  ^^^"^'"^  '  ^-  '^-^-^  him;  bui 
then  uch.  tV  ^r'\^  T^'  ^'^^"  I  ^'^''  expect  him  and 
t^en  such  a  tune  !~My  whole  house  is  presently  turned  upside 


'     I 


I 


V 


J 


76     LIFP]  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

down,— my  plans  of  usefulness  dispersed — my  thoughts  turned 
upon  self-ends— and  my  quietude  broken.  He  came  upon  me 
last  Saturday,  and  took  me  quite  aback,  by  telling  me  that  I 
do  not  believe  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  told  me  that  I  knew  very 
well  I  did  not  knoiv  anything  about  the  marvellous  tales  re- 
corded in  the  Gospel,  and  that  it  was  no  better  than  imposition 
to  pretend  to  know  them.  I  had  to  acknowledge  to  him  that  I 
did  not  know  the  truth  of  the  marvels  narrated  in  the  Gospel ; 
but  that  I  thought  it  probable  that  God  had  made  a  revelation 
of  Himself  as  thus  narrated.     Still,  I  could  not  feel  certain 

of  it. 

*'  But,  I  plainly  told  him  that  I  felt  determined — God,  or  no 
God,  Christianity,  or  no  Christianity — to  spend  mylife  in  labour- 
ing to  purify  and  elevate  my  brother- man.  I  told  him  that  I 
did  believe  in  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  and  in  His  doctrine  of  Life  ; 
and  that  I  intend  to  make  harder  efforts  to  subdue  every  op- 
posing principle  and  tendency  within  me  ;  and  that  I  2d//// spend 
my  life  in  usefulness — in  doing  good  to  mankind,  and  if  there 
be  no  hereafter,  I  shall  have  the  satisfaction,  when  Death  comes, 
to  think  that  I  have  lived  usefully  and  well ;  but,  if  the  story 
of  the  Resurrection  and  Eternal  Life  be  true,  I  shall  hope  by 
faithfulness  in  subduing  my  heart-evils,  and  in  serving  my 
brother-man,  to  obtain  an  entrance  upon  its  scenes  of  useful- 
ness and  joy." 

The  following  letter  received  by  Austin  Craig  while  at 
Feltville  is  of  interest : 

**  Farkersburg,  April  g^  iSjo. 

"  Dear  Sir  : 

"  Your  discourse  upon  the  unity  of  the  Christian  Church 
has  been  received  and  read  by  me  with  much  pleasure.  By 
the  same  mail,  I  received  another  publication,  which  I  have 
not  yet  found  time  to  peruse,  but  which  shall  command  my 
earnest  attention  for  the  first  rainy  Sunday  that  comes  to  pass. 

"  I  had  seen  notices  of  your  onslaught  upon  sectarianism,  or, 
rather  your  founding  of  a  new  sect,  as  was  first  announced,  but 
I  was  in  doubt  whether  that  Austin  Craig  was  the  veritable 
Austin  Craig  of  college  memory.  The  receipt  of  your  two 
tracts  makes  the  identity  a  '  fixed  fact '  in  my  mind,  and  I 
am  glad  thus  to  renew  an  acquaintance  of  '  auld  lang  syne.' 

**  But,  notwithstanding  your  discourse  is  title  paged  as  having 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE 


77 


been  *  preached '  on  a  certain  occasion,  candour  compels  me 
to  acknowledge  myself  rather  dubious  as  to  the  degree  of  sin- 
cerity or  earnestness  that  ought  to  attach  to  your  views  All 
ideas  of  yourself  are  closely  coupled,  in  my  memory,  with  a 
stubborn  propensity  for  quizzing,  so  that  I  am  really  unable  to 
decide  whether  you  are  serious. 

-  Let  that  be  as  it  may,  however,  you  have  made  one  convert 
to  your   doctrine,  or,    you   rather  express  and   elaborate  mv 
previously  conceived   sentiments   so  clearly  and  satisfactorily, 
that  I  take  my  stand  upon  your  platform  without  hesitation 
W  hat  kw  religious  promptings  have  fallen  to  my  lot.  are  ever 
encountered    by   the   great    stumbling-block   of  sectarianism. 
U  ith  some  knowledge  of  the  various  creeds  that  have  obtained 
I  know  not  one  to  which  I  could  subscribe  without  some  reser' 
vation,  even  were  I  fitted  for  church-membership  in  other  par- 
ticulars-which,  I  lament  to  say,  is  by  no  means  the  fact. 

1  think  you  fully  expose  the  errors  and  inconsistencies  per- 
taining to  the  very  nature  of  sectarianism.     That  incubus  upon 

rrltr;L\'  ^^V^r^Vr"  ?^  '^''  priesthood-a  species  of  priest- 
craft   that   calls   loudly    for    another   generation    of    Luthers 
Knoxes,  Zwingles   Calvins,  Melancthons.  etc.,  who  shall  pos^ 

the  Chun  h''''  """'^^  '''^"^'^''  '"^  ^  '""^^'^  reformation  of 

lear?llT,i^'''T^"?  ^^^^^^g^^^^  ^"^  must  desist,  until  I  can 
learn  more  fully  whether  you  are  a  preacher,  sure  enou^^h   or 

'  Sr  ri^^u'"":  '•^"""'  "^IT  ''''  ' P'^'^  -"-times  move^  to 
speak   right   out    in    meetin'.'     When  you  inform  me  more 

par  icu  ar  y  on  that  subject  I  will  comm'une  mrfreely^'th 
seTf'fnr  T  ..  1^^-^''''  ^^  ^^'''^  ^^"^^^^  y«^  »^"^t  blame  your- 
ing^'^cLi^^^^^     '""^  "^"^'  ''  ''''  ^^-"-^--  -^  y-^  ^-ax- 

ycirs^  iTed^f'f  "^  ""'  Pr'""''  ^"^  ^^^^  ^^^"  ^^'  the  last  three 
and  wo  IcTbe  sHll  ''^  ^  P^Per-am  very  fond  of  the  business 
diiu  uould  be  still  more  so,  if  it  would  pay  better. 

that  you'^Ml^'!-  ^T  ^""^  T"'     ^""^  "^"  ^"y  «^  y^tir  efforts 

heathen  tharnrl         '"'"^  '^""^^  "^'  ^""^^  ^^^^  ^han  half  the 
tan  en  that  common  repute  once  made  me  appear. 

^hall  aSres''tEisTo"nl''^'A  ^'"  ^^^^  P^^^°"  '  ^^  "«t,  so  I 
to  subscd^  myself,     ^  ^'"'^'  '"  ^^^""^  ^  ^'^  ^'^^^ 

"  Respectfully, 

**A.  McD.  SlERRETT." 


, 


78     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

Perhaps  in  no  way  may  tlie  spirit  and  character  of  the 
young  preacher  be  better  shown  than  by  the  following 
extracts  from  letters  written  while  carrying  on  the  Felt- 
ville  work  to  various  friends  in  response  to  criticism  or 
comment  or  suggestion  : 

"I  dislike  the  phrase  'Liberal  Christianity.*  Christianity 
is  never  otherwise  than  liberal.  The  Apostle's  Creed  is  the 
best  human  Creed.  Don't  despair  of  your  usefulness  nor  of 
the  world's  final  redemption." 

*'  I  will  labour  as  a  Christian  with  any  who  will  permit  me ; 
but  I  am  anxious  to  be  simply  a  member  of  Christ's  one,  holy, 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church.  If  I  cannot  be  fellowshipped 
as  a  Christian,  I  must  submit  to  be  without  fellowship.  I 
would  rather  not  join  your  conference,  though  I  will  endeavour 
to  attend  it.  I  do  not  know  the  ministers  who  compose  it ; 
and  they  might  take  it  upon  themselves  to  disfellowship  me— 
after  my  joining  them — for  my  heresies  !  " 

**  *  Shall  we — the  Christian  denomination — always  be  as  a 
people  without  books  ? '  Not  if  we  will  condescend  to  use  the 
multitude  of  good  books  which  others  have  published.  We 
ought  to  learn  to  value  good  things,  whether  they  have  our 
denominational  seal  and  approval  upon  them,  or  not.  What 
answer  shall  we  give  when  asked  who  are  our  most  prominent 
writers?  Answer,  candidly  and  manfully,  that  we  have  had 
none  of  the  great  names  in  literature  and  science  among  us— 
that  our  denominational  list  of  great  names  is  meagre  and 
scanty;  but  that  the  principles  on  which  we  profess  to  be 
founded,  have  received  the  suffrages  of  such  men  as  Milton  and 
Cudworth,  and  Newton  and  Swedenborg— giants  in  Philosophy 
and  Literature  and  Science,  and  saints  in  life." 

*«  We  ought  to  act  a  noble,  manly.  Christian  part ;  and  if  a 
sense  of  duty  demands  of  us  to  occupy  a  position  of  obloquy 
and  reproach,  we  should  not  be  backward  to  take  that  posi- 
tion ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  may  be  true  to  our  sense  of 
duty,  and  at  the  same  time  have  the  fellowship  of  the  professed 
followers  of  Christ  in  our  vicinity,  that  is  well." 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE 


79 


-From  my  heart  s  bottom  I  hate  restrictions  upon  free  en- 
quiry  and  free  discussion.  I  have  no  spark  of  sympathy  with  that 
spirit  which  seeks  to  screen  any  truth  from  any  onslaught  of 
Its  questioners  and  opposers.  1  ruth  asks  a  *  fair  field  and  no 
favour.  '-i  "w 

'■Now,  to  confess  my  faith      I  do  believe  in  experimental 
religion.     I  believe  m  our  obtaining  and  possessing  the  Holy 
Spin  .     I  don  t  believe  in  'getting  religion,'_as  that  phrase  is 
popularly  understood.     I  believe  that  the  Gospel  is  a  remedial 
system  for  the  cure  of  heart-evil  :-that  what  all  men  need  is 
sa/v,,/,on,  not  cuUure  merely.     I  believe  in  Christian  Progress  • 
-that  It  is  the  privilege  of  the  present  generation  to  be  wiser 
an.    better  than  their  predecessors  ;-that  we  can  be  so,  if  we 
will   give  ourselves   to  prayer,  and   to  a   faithful  study  of  the 
1  ruth      I  want  to  feel  that  I  am  the  property  of  Christ^;  not  of 
he  Christian  denomination,  nor  of  any  oVher  human  orga^iza- 
tion.     I  am   at  the  same  time,  desirous  of  cultivatine  fraternal 
relations  with  all  the  followers  of  Christ,  especially  lith  those 

tZl  L'me  "  TTT'T  *"'^  ^''''°''"'  <=°nnectio'ns  hav    en 
(ltare<l  to  me      I  dislike  above  all  things,  to  be  misapprehended 
and  suspected  by  those  whom  I  wish  to  regard  as  bretCn    but 
■  f  It  must  be  so,  it  must;  I  resolve  that  I  till  ever  boldlv  avow 

r  w-iirndei.'^"'^  '^'  "^'''  '^'  ^^''>  -'"'  ^^p-v;°^ 

of  n,'r  ,•        I      exclusion  of  the  good  of  any  party  •  the  man 

cllvif" "  l^"""^'"''  ^"='^'"   fellowship-be  Cfn'ophrn 
t-'lvnist,  or  Armenian,  Trinitarian,  or  Universalist."  "  ^         ' 

slii!^o'l.'^"rf  *  ^^°"<''°^"  in  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp- 
'merdeuommatioual  church,  shows  in  clear  form  how 


i 


,t 


/ 


!l 


80    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

strongly  the  Feltville  plan  was  appealing  to  him.  It 
was  written  when  he  had  been  in  Feltville  about  three 
mouths  : 

*'...!  hope  the  society  which  you  have  mentioned  as 
about  being  organized  in  your  place  on  an  unsectarian  basis,  will 
be  preserved  from  the  error  into  which  some  similar  associations 
have  fallen — that  of  regarding  the  forms  and  peculiarities  of  their 
association,  more  than  the  spirit  and  institutions  of  the  Gospel. 
It  is  so  common  for  reformers  of  every  kind  to  lose  sight  of 
great,  central,  universal  interests,  and  to  come  gradually  to  oc- 
cupy a  position  simply  negative,  that  I  feel  interest  for  your 
society,  lest  it  fall  into  the  same  error. 

**  Many  of  the  religious  organizations  in  Christendom  are 
little  more  than  theological  hook  and  ladder  companies.  Their 
whole  mission  seems  fulfilled  in  tearing doivn.  They  lose  sight 
of  the  great,  positive  character  of  Christianity,  and  centre  all 
their  energies  and  zeal  upon  a  single  point — importayit  it  may 
be  ;  but  the  e?itire  Gospel  it  cannot  be.  I  am  confident  that 
the  successful  way  of  pulling  down  any  error,  is  by  building  up 
the  truth — building  it  up  not  merely  in  dogmatic  statements 
and  discussions,  but  in  our  lives,  in  our  hearts. 

**  In  taking  the  unsectarian  position  which  you  have  assumed, 
you  become  an  object  of  interest  and  dislike  (perhaps)  to  the 
denominations  around  you.  It  is  natural  to  expect  that  your 
society  will  be  assailed  for  holding  latitudinarian  principles. 
It  is  also  natural  to  expect  that  the  pulpit  of  the  society  will 
sometimes  be  occupied  in  defense  of  your  unsectarian  position ; 
and  sometimes  perhaps  in  exposing  the  unscriptural  position  of 
the  various  sectarian  bodies.  Under  such  circumstances  you 
will  be  exposed  to  the  danger  of  becoming  too  much  absorbed 
in  controversy  ;  you  may  lose  sight  of  the  great  object  for  which 
the  Church  exists  : — (viz.,  to  cure  the  heart-evils  of  the  world) 
and  become  simply  propagandists  of  anti-sectarian  principles. 
I  earnestly  wish  that  God  may  preserve  your  newly  formed 
society  from  such  disastrous  result. 

**  In  choosing  you  a  pastor  have  regard  rather  to  his  piety 
and  zeal  in  promoting  holiness,  than  to  his  particular  interest 
and  zeal  in  promulgating  and  defending  anti-sectarianism.  Be 
as  free  as  Christ  can  make  you  from  all  creed  and  sect  fetters; 
but  use  such  freedom  only  as  a  means  of  procuring  for  your- 
selves a  larger  measure  of  the  free  spirit  of  God's  adopted  sons. 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE 


81 


/  wish  you  grace  and  blessing  from  God.     May  He  grant  you 
in  this  enterprise,  that  wisdom  which  is  *  profitable  to  direct.'  " 

But  there  were  other,  though  related,  principles  taking 
form  in  the  mind  of  the  young  preacher  as  well  as  those 
strictly  pertaining  to  his  pulpit  work.     He  was  becom- 
ing more  and  more  interested  in  the  affairs  of  his  country 
and  in  the  immediate  welfare  of  the  people.     He  had 
early  learned  the  power  of  type  and  had  begun  contribut- 
ing to  the  denominational  papers  and  had  been  selected 
as  an  assistant  editor  of  one  of  them.     Now  and  then 
according  to  the  fiishiou  of  the  day,  he  issued  tracts' 
practical  helpful  talks,  in  his  case,  of  religious  character] 
lar  unlike  the  namby-pamby  productions  of  those  whose 
chief  recommendation  was  their  facile  use  of  cant  and 
liy])()crisy. 

Austin's  father  took  a  deep  interest  in  national  politics 
and  freciuently  discussed  important  political  events  in  his 
letters  to  his  son,  hoping,  thereby,  no  doubt,  to  quicken, 
stnnulate,  and  broaden  tlie  young  preacher.  Kow  and 
then  such  touclies  a«  these,  written  while  Austin  was  at 
reltvillc,  appear  : 

-I  heard  Hill  preach  last  Sunday.  He  is  a  flamin? 
Methodist  says  he  would  rather  be  a  MetLiist  preaX? 
I  an   president  of  the  United  States.      He  cin  be  onirone  ^^^ 

t^::^^  Sviuit"  ^  ^^^"  ''^^  ^'^^^  "^^  "--- 

at  PlSe^hlfa?  ^f  g^^r  .i"/he  Whig  national  convention 
salted       nfc^  ^^"'  ''  '^'^  ^^^^^"^1  Slaughter  House  !) 

voul  1  II  ^  .K   ""T^^''  '^^'  spokesman-that  General  Taylor 

course      ff  fhi   Ir,,^^^  convention  they  were  Whigs  of 
self  he  wnllH  '''''^  u^"  "P^^  '^"^^  °^h^^  ^"^  besides  him- 

event   he   T^  1'"^^^''  lY  "^"^^"^^  ^^^'^  ^"d  soul  and  in  that 

peol      slfn^^'  T"  1^  ''^^^^'"^"  ^'^  "^"^^  ^^«^  before  the 
people.     Saunders  further  stated  that  he  thought  a  change  in 


,'] 


u 


i 


|l 


82    LIFE  A^D  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

men   and   measures   necessary  in  order  to  arrest  the  downward 
tendency  of  our  government. 

"This  looks  too  W biggish  for  me.  I  take  the  above  from 
the  Tribune^  no  doubt  reported  truly,  and  also  from  the 
Herald.  This  statement  made  by  the  delegation  of  his  own 
state  secured  for  him  the  Whig  nomination.  Availability  was 
about  all  that  was  looked  at." 

In  anotlier  letter  written  to  Austin  lie  siiys: 

*'  There  is  no  country  in  the  world  so  prosperous,  so  happy 
and  so  free  as  this.  Wliile  the  old  world  is  racked  and  tossed 
with  monarchy  in  various  forms,  the  people  are  groaning  to  be 
free.  They  look  to  this  as  a  model  government  and  say,  If 
we  only  were  as  well  off !  A  currency  without  a  national 
bank,  the  best  of  any  country  in  the  world  ;  good  prices  for 
our  produce ;  plenty  of  enn)loyment  for  our  people  ;  the  tariff 
modified  on  the  ad  valorem  principle  ;  our  people  think,  talk, 
and  act  as  they  please; — what  better?  Need  we  want  for 
more  ? 

**  Democratic  measures  is  now  the  settled  policy  of  the 
country.  General  Cass  is  nominated  and  stands  pledged  to 
continue  the  same, — /.  <f.,  to  let  well  enough  alone.  He  is 
from  a  free  state.  The  Herald  says  he  is  a  national  man. 
The  New  York  Express,  a  strong  Taylor  paper  of  June  19th, 
says  (1  quote  from  an  editorial)  : 

'♦  ♦  It  was  thought  advisable  by  the  late  democratic  conven- 
tion to  take  as  a  candidate  a  man  who  stood  on  the  middle 
ground  as  to  the  slavery  question.  Claiming  the  power  of  Con- 
gress to  prohibit  slavery  and  leaving  it  to  the  territories  them- 
selves to  admit  slavery  or  not  ; — that  is,  to  admit  them  without 
restriction.  While  this  principle  is  entirely  hostile  to  the  views 
of  the  "Free  Soil"  party  of  the  free  states,  it  has  been  found 
alike  unpalatable  to  the  Calhoun  men  of  the  South  and  to 
many  men  in  the  South  who  are  not  Calhoun  men.* 

"General  Taylor  is  a  Whig,  nominated  by  the  Whigs.  He 
has  written  a  number  of  letters  at  different  times.  I  have  in 
my  possession  several,  about  twenty-four.  In  one  of  them  he 
says  he  is  a  Whig,  in  another  he  takes  the  strongest  possible 
Whig  ground  on  the  exercise  of  the  veto  power.  In  another 
he  says  he  has  been  in  the  army  for  forty  years  and  has  never 
experienced  the  privilege  of  voting,  but  if  he  had  been  in  the 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE  §3 

country  at  the  la.t  election  he  would  have  voted  for  Clav      He 
can't  give  an  answer  on  the  bank  and  tariff  question       He  as- 
serts as  a  reason  that  he  has  never  given  the.n  due  considera- 
tion.    I  don  t  know  what  course  he  would  pursue.     He  has 
several  plantations  and  about  200  slaves.     Of  this  there  is  no 
imstake.     Of  course  he  would  favour  the  institution  of  slavery 
He  IS  a  good  general  and  no  doubt  a  man  of  good,  steady 
habits  and  character,  a  fearless  warrior.     I  understand  he  wal 
,,,  favour  of  procuring  bloodhounds  from  Cuba  at  the  time  of 
the  beminole  War,  at  least  he  recommended  i,  to  the  govern 
ment  of  Florida      I  think  there  is  no  mistake  about  thT    I 
saw  1  tin  a  New  York  paper  and  have  not  seen  it  con.rad  cted 
'  lo  sum  up :  I  know  the  course  Cass  will  pursue  if  elected 
don     know  laylor-s  course.     I  feel  disposed  not  to  dUtob 
he  settled,  prosperous  policy  of  the  country.     Old  party  siwt 
I  think  has  got  Its  death-blow.      When  Jackson  was  pres  de" 
Cas^  was  in  h,s  cabinet.     The  opposition  then  said  every    ,„i 
of  Jackson,  almost,  that  was  bad,  but  they  said  he  had  onf 
fht    Ttei;",h  "  "'''-'-''.  "?at  was  Cass.'   I  well  remember 
r^l '  1.  .        ,    '^^"^  ^^'"^  ""  'he  subject.     The  Whies  are 

h  y^Ii&tiw'' Tr'"^  ^"'' ^^'''  r  ^"  -ppo«S  b 

he  vot^  of  Ca  s  \nd    r"7'"f' °u  °^  ^^"  "^"^^^  ^"'  ^^^^ken 
char.rr  i^s'go'oT;  'lols  \'I^lr^''"   ^'''^^'-     ^ass'   private 

cessiS,"'  f  °,i'°"i!  ^TI"  \'  Preserved  by  compromise  and  con- 

of  the  slave  stafes  1  avTn^  tht  '''^  "'"  ^-  '"""^"^^^  '"  «°™« 
do  anything  Svnrcaui'r:,:.^^ 'oHh^e  Un'r^^""! 
wars  would  follow  and  oh,  the  consequences  -  ""     ^''•' 

41  li  the'n 'and  ^Jn'^^Jt^  ^th.  The  whites  celebrated  the 
was  on  thee,  l^  r^"  ^'^^  *  Bobolition  on  the  5th.  There 
n,ou^d  iv^  el'felT  '""T''  "^"^  "'^'^^^  °f  '^e  day  was 
uniform:one  of  whth  ^oh"""^'"!'-'"^"'*^^  ^y'^°  ^'des  in 
">-e  nC^  oerformance  The"v  ''  J'  Z''  •'"'"^'"S  '°  ^<=« 
•he  country  trot Tn  f„  ?h.  7  ^  °"''^  '"^^  '"'°  '»*"  from 
hell)  out  th'e  faTr  ,ex  r  nm^n/^r"'u"?  °"'  °^  '^eir  rigs  and 
hos  ler  .  to  ake  the  hS^?  "^  """"  ^''^  '^°  '  '^''^  ^^^  ^^  'he 


, 


I 


I  ' 


I) 


I 


84    LIFP:  and  letters  of  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

Broiideniiij;  and  deepening  his  iil'e  both  by  his  own 
study  and  by  welcoming  and  profiting  by  the  stimuhitiou 
of  such  outside  intlueuces,  Austin  continued  through  the 
months  of  his  work  in  Feltville  arousing  men  and  women 
to  elfort,  steadying  them  in  their  religious  faith,  and 
strengthening  it  where  it  was  weak,  while  all  the  time 
holding  them  to  him  by  the  winsomenCvSS  of  his  love. 
\V  hen  it  seemed  best  that  he  should  leave  them  for  a 
wider  field  of  labour  this  is  what  they  said  : 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Feltville,  Essex  County, 
New  Jersey,  held  at  the  church  this  day,  David  Felt,  Esq.,  was 
called  to  the  chair  and  Philos  Gisburne  appointed  secretary. 
The  undersigned  were  appointed  a  committee  to  draft  resolu- 
tions expressive  of  their  feelings  with  regard  to  the  services  of 
Rev.  Austin  Craig  as  pastor  of  the  church  in  this  place  during 
the  last  year. 

"  In  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  this  duty  the  committee 
felt  consiilerably  embarrassed  from  the  delicacy  of  the  sul)ject 
and  from  a  consciousness  of  their  inability  truly  and  sufficiently 
to  express  the  kind  feelings  cherished  by  every  one  in  our 
midst  towards  Mr.  Craig. 

"To  most  of  the  inhabitants  in  this  place  and  its  vicinity 
Mr.  Craig  has  been  known  upwards  of  three  years  and  during 
this  lapse  of  time  they  have  yet  to  learn  of  the  first  deed  or  act 
performed  by  him  in  the  least  conflicting  with  strict  propriety 
or  Christian  demeanour.  As  a  man  we  know  him  but  to  love 
and  res{)ect  him.  As  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  we  regard  him 
as  altogether  beyond  all  that  would  seem  to  hold  communion 
with  the  worldly-tending  elements  that  have  so  strongly  en- 
trenched themselves  in  too  many  hearts — in  too  many  minds. 
We  believe  him  to  be  entirely  consistent  in  the  opinions  he 
entertains  and  that  those  opinions  are  not  formed  without 
due  deliberation  and  careful  enquiry.  Upon  one  point  we 
wish  distinctly  to  speak  and  we  speak  it  with  unfeigned  pleas- 
ure. Never  during  his  labours  among  us,  has  he  spoken  dis- 
respectfully of  any  denomination  or  sect  of  Christians,  but  has 
freely  canvassed  everything  connected  with  this  progress  of 
the  Christian  religion  with  the  utmost  deference  to  the  opinions 
and  convictions  of  others,  and  with  an  entire  absence  of  every- 


THE  FIRST  CHARGE  85 

thing  which  could  by  any  possibility  be  construed  into  faction 

or  disorganization. 

"In  short  we  may  close  by  briefly  saying  that  Mr.  Craig 
has  been  faithful  as  a  minister  among  us,  honest,  upright,  high 
minded  and  just  as  a  man,— earnest,  consistent  and  devoted  as 
a  Christian. 

-In  parting  ^yith  him  we  sustain  a  loss  in  the  intellectual, 
moral  and  social  circles  of  our  community  that  we  fear  it  will 
be  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  fill.  We  commend  him  to  the 
tavourable  opinions  and  good  wishes  of  all  with  whom  he  may 
associate  or  in  the  circle  of  whose  society  he  may  move 

'I  And  may  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  long  continue  the 
health  and  life  of  one  who  seems  so  peculiarly  well  fitted  in 
every  point  of  view  to  assist  mankind  in  attaining  those  great 
ends  which  the  God  of  nature  has  designed  for  the  lot  of  all 
who  obey  her  laws  and  keep  her  commandments. 

'*  David  Felt, 
"Philos  Gisburne, 
"  H.  A.  Guild, 
**  William  Smith, 
**  Daniel  Jewett." 


I 


4 


A 
I    . 


i   ' 


VI 

THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 

AN  important  event  in  the  life  of  Austin  Craig 
occurred  while  he  was  in  Feltville.  It  was  the 
delivery  of  the  conference  address  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Christian  ministers  and  churches,  held  at 
Camptown,  now  Irvington,  New  Jersey,  May  18,  1850. 
Ever  burning  within  the  heart  of  this  young  man  was  the 
fire  of  a  splendid  devotion  to  Truth  ;  ever  the  Truth  no 
matter  where  he  found  it,  who  uttered  it,  who  opposed, 
who  endorsed  it ;  no  matter,  indeed,  who  should  be  over- 
thrown by  its  utterance.  He  had  lost  no  opportunity  to 
publish  long  and  short  articles  in  the  denominational 
press,  presenting  in  the  clearest  and  most  trenchant  man- 
ner his  reasons  for  believing  in  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  rather  than  in  the  church  of  Wesley,  or  Calvin, 
or  Luther,  or  the  church  of  any  creed  or  sect.  One  of 
the  chief  attractions  of  Feltville  was  the  opportunity  for 
coming  into  contact  with  a  large  publisher  and  printer, 
Mr.  David  Felt,  the  founder  of  the  town ;  thus  opening 
the  way  to  the  issuance  of  such  pamphlets  or  tracts  as  he 
desired  to  put  forth. 

Now  and  then  some  article  which  he  would  propose  to 
the  Palladium^  one  of  the  Church  periodicals,  would  be 
refused,  whereupon  he  would  proceed  to  issue  and  dis- 
tribute it  himself.  The  article  might  not  fit  the  groove 
in  which  the  periodical  ran,  but  it  was  sure  to  find  its 
place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  approved  by  the  sane 
and  liberal,  condemned  perhaps  by  the  ultra  orthodox ; 
but  admired  by  both.     In  a  letter  to  a  friend  he  says : 

86 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 


87 


-I  observe  that  you  write  less  frequently  than  formerly  for 
the  lalladiutn.  I  suppose  the  reason  is  the  same  as  my  own- 
easy  to  write  for  it ;  but  difficult  to  get  it  pubhshed.  I  tried 
as  long  as  I  thought  it  useful,  and  am  now  awaiting  a  change 
in  the  editorial  authority.  I  have  never  written  for  the  Chris- 
tian  Register,  I  did  send  the  Christian  Inquirer  one  article  • 
I  am  morally  certain  its  length  if  nothing  else  would  have  ex- 
cluded It  from  the  Palladium.  It  is  published  by  the  Ameri- 
can Unitarian  Association  as  a  tract,  occupying  twenty-seven 
1 2 mo  pages. 

"  Since  I  cannot  write  for  the  Messenger  what  I  feel  special 
interest  in,  I  must  seek  some  other  channel— viz.,  tracts  I  am 
directing  my  attention  to  that  and  trying  to  interest  my  friends 
in  It.  Russel's  defection  gives  me  no  uneasiness.  I  look  for 
the  hna  triumph  of  truth.  A  greater  progressive  work  a  hun- 
dredfold, is  going  on  for  Christian  freedom  in  earnest  minds  in 
society,  than  compensates  this  retrocession.  An  interesting  and 
miportant  movement  against  sectarianism  is  going  on  in  western 
New  York  under  the  auspices  of  Gerritt  Smith  and  others  A 
fevv  years  will  probably  reveal  an  immense  accession  to  free 
principles  in  religion,  and  perhaps  a  great  defection  from  them 


among  us. 


*'  1  would  like  to  publish  some  thoughts  on  the  themes  you 

So'tdf  rf'  ,'"^'p  t"'P^*"^  "^^   '^^  government  of  ^he 

st  iM.'   ?."'  '•     ^T^""^.   u'^  "^^''^^^  '^  conference   this 
spring  may  be  occupied  with  these  things." 

The  movement  referred  to  above  had  taken  form  in 
wh:i  was  called  an  A nti -Sectarian  convention,  held  in 
til.  I  resbyterian  church  at  Peterboro,  New  York.  Gerrit 
M  was  deeply  interested  in  the  movement.  Heir  to 
^t    arge  estate  and  devoted  to  its  administration,  he  wa^ 

;,1;.V  Jf  ^"^  ^^'^'^  movements  looking  towards  the 
1  I  uation  of  body  or  mind.  His  outspokenness  on  the 
«  a  -ry  question  attracted  the  young  preacher^s  attention 
••       Ins  great  liberality  in  these  and  later  years  in  pro- 

^0    oon  ^^'    ^'''''''^^''  ^^""^^^  ^"^  whites,- some 

cl  r      T'"^  ""^    ^^"^   ^""^^  ^^"«  distributed   free  of 
caarge,~kept  him  in  a  warm  place  in  Austin  Craig^s 


;i  'J 


ii 


'/' 


t) 


i 


88    LIP^E  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

heart.  On  receipt  of  somo  information  regarding  the 
Peterboro  meeting  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Smith  for  ampler  data. 
Tlie  latter  responded,  seuding  the  iuformatiou,  accom- 
panied by  a  note  saying  : 

**  Dear  Brother  Craig  : 

"  I   thank   you  for  your  letter.     I  send  you  what  you 
wish.     We  shall  probably  have  a  similar  convention  at  Syracuse 
2 1  St  and   2  2d  inst.     1  wish  you  would  attend. 
Feb.  I,  iSjo.  **Gerrit  Smith." 

All  the  ellbrt  he  had  so  far  put  forth  for  Christian  unity 
culminated,  if  we  may  so  express  it,  at  this  period  in  the 
conference  address.  It  not  only  aroused  and  held  the 
inteiest  of  those  who  heard  it,  but  it  grij)ped  hold  upon 
many  others,  reaching  them  through  the  pami)hlet  form 
in  which  it  soon  appeared,  and,  by  a  still  wider  circula- 
tion in  the  columns  of  the  New  York  Tribune  to  which 
Mr.  Greeley  warmly  welcomed  it,  both  for  its  attractive 
literary  character  and  for  the  clearness  and  power  of  its 
content.  This  address, — a  state  paper  of  the  Church,  a 
notal>le  document,  a  great  platform,  if  you  will ; — even 
more,  a  Declaration  of  Independence, — is  the  more  re- 
markable and  noteworthy  because  it  came  from  the  pen 
of  a  young  minister  not  yet  twenty-six  years  of  age,  pas- 
tor of  an  obscure  country  church.  That  it  proves  as 
timely  and  as  interesting  at  the  l)eginning  of  the  twentieth 
century  as  it  did  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth,  sug- 
g(\sts  at  once  the  power  of  the  man  who  prepared  it  and 
the  universality  and  vitality  of  Truth. 

The  address  which  Austin  Craig  headed  with  the  cap- 
tion, *' Ourselves;  Our  Principles;  Our  Present  Con- 
troversy ;  Our  Immediate  Duties, ''  was  lus  follows  : 

Christian  Pastors  and  Delegates,  Brethren  : — I  greet 
you  again  assembled  in  annual  conference.  Again  Divine 
Mercy  permits  us  to  exchange  fraternal  greetings,  and  to  take 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS  89 

the  friendly  hand  Again  we  have  met  to  cooperate  in  the 
cause  of  Jesus,  and  to  unite  our  voices  in  His  praise.  May 
His  presence  be  with  us— and  His  blessing  forever  » 

In  accordance  with  a  vote  passed  at  our  last  session,  I  appear 
before  you  to  deliver  the  customary  conference  address-to 
speak  to  you  of  our  progress,  our  condition,  our  prospects  I 
enter  upon  the  performance  of  this  duty  with  feelings  of  more 
than  ordinary  mterest.  ^ 

It  is  known  to  you  that  since  our  last  annual  gathering  a 
very  important  movement  has  commenced  in  some  of  the 
churches  professing  our  principles  in  New  England  This 
movement— hailed  by  some  as  an  omen  of  prosperity,'  but  de- 
nounced  by  others  as  the  commencement  of  a  destructive 
ai)ostasy— contemplates  the  virtual  abandonment  of  our  old 
prniciples  and  the  organization  of  our  -Connexion"  upon  a 
new  and  distmctly  sectarian  basis. 

A  convention  of  delegates  from  our  several  conferences  has 
been  called  to  assemble  at  Marion  in  the  ensuing  autumn  To 
this  convention  we  must,  at  our  present  session,  appoint  a  dele- 
gate to  participate  in  its  deliberations  ;  and  to  vote  in  our  name 
upon  the  settlement  of  the  questions  now  agitated  among  us 

Ihese  considerations  impel  me  to  occupy  this  hour  in  dis- 
roursmg  upon  ourselves  : -our  principles;  our  present  con- 
troversy;  our  immediate  duties  r  present   con 

^'Cuir^'^f^^'''    '''^'?}'   '"'^^'^^    ^"    '^^   formation   of    the 

'Chnstian  Connexion,"  commenced  in  a  desire  to  eniov  the 

complete  liberty  of  the  Gospel.     The  pioneers  in  this  moTement 

senile  oTthT  '    T'"  P-testant 'sects,  who   harbecome 

idtv  of  ff^L    ^^^^^^^^'^"f^^'  ^nd  longed  to  return  to  the 

n        i5rK      u     ^S^  ""^'^  ^^  'P^^^^  ^^hi^h  characterized  the 

E  al  tn  ^r^;-     ^''^'^'T'''^  ^"  ^"  '''  f«^'^^'  ^hey  declared 

d^^^^^^  ^""'"'^  legislation,  in  matters  of  re- 

l^ious  faith,  they  regarded  as  a  usurpation  of  the  authority  of 

ItL^  ''^^^'    ^^''  movement  was   represented    by  its 

un  on  Th.^n  ""^T^^i:  ^l'^'  Christian  liberty  and  Christian 
u  rih.f  n  P'l"^^P^^^  ^^  this  movement  may  be  briefly  summed 
up  m  the  following  statements  : 

^n!\' rrJ^^^ u^^?'  ''  ""''^  ^//^/rr//_established  by  Jesus  Christ: 

ceid  h'- ''^'"1'"^  ^':!-  ""^'^''y  ^^'  ^"^  "^ti«"  ^ho  have  ac'- 
an    h.      l^^'-i^^  predicted  Messiah,  the  Saviour  of  the  world  : 
and  have  heartily  submitted  to  His  authority. 
2.     That  Jesus  Christ  is  the  sole  Lawgiver  of  this  Church : 


90    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

so  that  only  He  has  authority  to  determine  what  His  Church 
shall  believe,  and  what  it  shall  practice. 

3.  That  the  New  Testament  contains  all  the  legislative  en- 
actments of  Jesus  Christ  for  His  Church.  That  it  is  the  only 
and  sufficient  rule  of  Christian  faith  and  life  :  and  hence  that 
every  attempt  by  individuals  or  associations  to  dictate  a/ticles 
of  faith  or  rules  of  conduct  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  or  to  any 
member  thereof,  is  unauthorized  and  schismatical 

4.  That  all  enactments  of  Jesus  respecting  things  to  be  be- 
l.eved  and  practiced  by  His  followers,  are  Iddressed  to  each 
individual  meml>er  of  His  Church  ;  and  are  to  be  submitted  to 
by  each  as,  after  a  prayerful  study  of  his  Master's  will,  he 
shall  understand  Him  to  require. 

5.  That  men  are  made  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ  bv 
spiritual  regeneration.  ^ 

be^exteT.ried 't '  ^^'^^^^'^^ip  of  the  Church  in  any  place  should 
be  extended  to  every  applicant  upon  a  credible  profession  of 
^  Rq>entance  towards  God,  and  faith  towards  ouJ  Lord  Jesus 

7:  That  a  credible  profession  of  faith  is  that  which  accom- 
panies such  love  to  God  as  leads  the  professor  to  endeavour 
obedience  to  all  His  commands  known  as  such  ;  together  ld"h 
such  love  to  mankind  as  leads  him  to  endeavou'r  thfdischSe 

re.  rd       u"  ''^  """V^  ''J  ^  '^'''''  ^^  ^^^^l^f^lness  and  brotherly 

regard.      He  who  thus   does,  affords  all  the  evidence  the  New 

lestament  authorizes  us  to  require  that  he  is  a  suitable  person 

to  be  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Church  ^ 

8      That  the   i)roper  designation  of  the  collective  body  of 

ot  Lhr  s  )  in  such  a  place :  not  -  Baptist  Church,''  -  Presbv- 
tenan  Church,"  -Methodist  Church,"  etc.  And  that  he 
proper  c  esignation  of  a  member  of  the  church  is  Christian  • 
no    Presl>yterian,  Methodist,  Unitarian,  or  Lutheran 

in  adopting  these  principles  our  pioneers  supposed  they  were 

placing  themselves  upon  the  original  basis  of  the  Church-upon 

iVable  '  Th"  Th"'"'   ^'^  ""'^"   ^^  ^"  Christians  is  pr'ac 

me'  thl  '^'     1  ""t  ^"''^''^^  '^^"  formation  of  a  new  sect!     It 

s  orob  11^17'   ""^'"'''"^  ^'"'^"^'>'  consociated  them.     And 

^uTnfH  ''  '^^  opposition  they  encountered  in  promul- 

fh  Vnir  mher^'i-^''  '^  ^''  'r  '  ^'"^  ^^  -P^^^^i-"  between 
see  eH  1  f  '"^'^^•^^"^^^^'  ^^at  to  superficial  observers  it 
seemed  as  if  a  new  sect  was  being  formed  by  schismatics  from 


THE  COXFEREXCE  ADDRESS 


91 


various   religious   denominations.     As   Schismatics,    however, 
they  did   not   regard   themselves— very  properiy  considering 
tiiat  Schism  consists  in  departing  from  the  divinely  instituted 
basis  of  Christian  fellowship  ;  not  in  returning  thereto.     Noth- 
ing, 1  believe,  was  further  from  the  intention  of  the  early  advo- 
cates of-  the  movement  whose  progress  to-day  assembles  us 
than  the  organization  of  a  sect.     They  intended  only  to  impart 
to  their  fellow  Christians  that  increase  of  Gospel  light  and  lib- 
erty with  which  the  Divine  Mercy  had  blessed  them.    They  went 
forth,  east,  west  and  south,  endeavouring  to  heal  the  unhappy 
divisions  among  the  followers  of  the  Lord  ;  and  entreating  men 
everywhere  to  accept  the  Gospel  in  that  simplicity  of  faith  and 
catholicity  of  spirit  which  characterized  the  primitive  Church. 
As  1  have  already  intimated,  they  encountered  opposition. 
Sectarianism  (as  was  to   be  expected)  would  not  permit   the 
promulgation  of  principles  which  aimed  its  destruction,  without 
an  effort  to  oppose  them.     And  it  did  oppose  them.     Every- 
where where  went  the  preachers  of  liberty,  sectaries  sounded  an 
alarm.     Untrue  and  injurious  reports  were  put  in  circulation 
respecting  their  principles  and   designs.     It  was  asserted  that 
they  were  deniers  of  the   Holy  Spirit,  and  that  they  esteemed 
the  Son  of  God   to  be  a  man  like  themselves.     These  state- 
ments, in  not  a  i^yj  instances,  were  made  by  men  whose  Chris- 
tian profession,   and   whose  position   as  religious  guides,  im- 
parted irresistible  weight  to  their  false  testimony.     Thus  the 
pulpit  generally  was  closed  against  them,  and  the  mind  of  the 
several   religious   bodies   effectually    prejudiced   against   their 
teachings. 

What  ensued  was  what  was  precisely  to  be  expected.  Being 
thus  assailed,  our  reformers  thought  themselves  impelled  to  the 
adoption  of  some  plan  of  concerted  action.  Accordingly  they 
associated  themselves,  and  commenced  the  work  of  organizing 
churches  of  such  as  sympathized  with  them.  Many  preachers 
were  raised  up  among  them  who  itinerated  extensively,  preach- 
ing whenever  and  wherever  they  could  obtain  a  hearing ;  and 
many  churches  were  planted  through  this  instrumentality. 

ihese  churches,  however,  were  generally  regarded  with  dis- 
tavour  by  the  religious  societies  which  surrounded  them.  This 
naturally  engendered  among  the  adherents  of  the  new  Connex- 
ion a  dislike  for  the  *' Sectarians"  (as  they  often  termed  their 
brethren  of  the  other  denominations),  while  it  tended  to  inter- 
weave still  more  closely  the  sympathies  of  the  *'  Christian  " 


( 


;.t 


I ' 


92    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

churches,  until  they  finally  appeared  in  a  distinctly  denomina- 
tional position. 

'I'hen  began  a  change.  Owing  to  the  frequent  misrepresen- 
tations of  their  doctrinal  tenets,  their  preachers  had  come  to 
occupy  themselves  more  with  Dogmas  and  less  than  formerly 
with  Principles.  Challenges  to  i)ublic  discussion  of  a  variety 
of  doctrinal  points  were  frequently  exchanged  with  ministers 
of  various  sects.  Sometimes  the  discussions  which  ensued  oc- 
cupied several  days,  and  were  attended  by  hundreds  of  inter- 
ested auditors.  These  discussions  could  hardly  fail  of  exciting 
a  lively  interest  throughout  the  "  Connexion  "—the  more  so, 
as  reports  of  them  were  carried  by  the  itinerants  into  every 
part  of  it. 

Soon  the  ministry  of  the  "  Connexion  "  began  to  theologize. 
One  by  one  the  prominent  dogmas  of  Sectdom  were  made  the 
topics  of  their  public  discourses.  Then  sharp  controversies 
and  sect-criminations  and  re-criminations  ensued.— Then  their 
pulpits  commenced  to  resound  with  strange  words.  And  in 
the  din,  loud  above  all  the  rest,  was  continually  heard.  Trin- 
ity !      Trinity  /  /     Tklmtv  !  !  ! 

As  might  have  been  expected,  many  of  those  who  joined  the 
'*  Connexion  "  during  this  period,  learned  to  regard  the  differ- 
ence between  the  *'  Christians''  and  the  other  religious  bodies 
as  consisting  mainly  in  their  rejection  of  some  dogmas  held  as 
sacred  by  other  religionists,  and  the  substitution  of  a  rational 
and  consistent  theology.  This  notion  was,  however,  incor- 
rect. Theological  opinions  held  a  secondary  })lace  in  this 
movement.  That  they  had  anything  to  do  with  it  was  indeed 
quite  accidental.  Whether  ''Immersion"  or  "Aspersion"  is 
valid  baptism — whether  God  exists  in  "Trinity"  or  in  strict 
unity — whether  Jesus  is  a  man  or  a  God — were  not  the  ques- 
tions with  which  this  movement  commenced. 

The  movement,  1  repeat,  was  originally  a  struggle  for  prin- 
ciples. It  was  not  a  conflict  about  dogmas.  But  such,  unhap- 
pily, it  soon  came  in  a  great  measure  to  be.  And  such  it  must 
ever  be  when  religion  is  accepted  rather  as  a  subject  for  the 
intellect  than  as  a  spring  of  life  to  the  affections.  Then  char- 
ity will  cool  !  Then  controversies  will  arise  !  Then  the  spirit 
of  life  will  depart  from  the  Church  !  Then  purposes  and  plan- 
nings  for  sectarian  advantage  will  agitate  the  minds  of  men  and 
expel  the  spirit  of  Christian  effort  and  love.  And  so,  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  it  was  in  our  Connexion.     On  this  point  I 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 


93 


need  not  here  particularize.     I  will  only  refer  to  a  single  and 
well-known   fact  :     A   few  years  ago  a  great  dearth  of  piety 
commenced    m   our  churches.     Complaints  of  coldness  and 
spiritual  apathy  reached  us  from  every  quarter.     We  wondered 
that  it  was  so,  and  various  causes  of  the  evil  were  imagined 
and  various  plans  suggested  for  its  removal.     But  the  evil  has 
not  been  removed.     It  is  still  pressmg  upon  us,  and  many  are 
now  earnestly  askmg,  What  is  the  matter  ivith  us  ?  and  what 
is  the  remedy  for  our  ailme,it  ?     These  questions— now  more 
or  less  agitated  in  every  portion  of  our  Connexion— appear  to 
have  excited  the  deepest  interest  among  our  brethren  in  New 
England.     Their   organ    has   contained,    during   the  last  few 
months,  nothing  so  interesting  and  earnest  as  its  discussions  of 
our  denommational  position  and  ailments.     And,  although  in 
regard   to  these  subjects,  the  opinions   expressed    have   been 
various,  we  well  know  that  some  of  the  most  vigorous  minds  in 
that  quarter  of  our  Connexion   have   declared  that  the  great 
cause  of  our  evils  is  Latitudinarianism.     We  are  (say  they)  not 
sufficiently  uniform   in   our   faith   and    practice— we  are  not 
enough  denominational.     We  should  therefore  assume  a  more 
decidedly  sectarian  position. 

But— that  we  may  not  misapprehend  them— let  us  hear  their 
very  words : 

"The  Christian  Connexion  of  this  country  came  out  from 
other  parties  and  formed  one  more  sect  about  the  year  i8oo 
I  say  j^r/,  because  they  adopted  a  name  and  sentiments  differ- 
ent from  the  parties  they  had  left.  Did  they  do  wrong  in  so 
doing  ?  If  so,  they  had  better  return  from  whence  they  came 
There  can  be  no  harm  or  sin  in  regarding  the  Christians 
as  a  sect.  If  we  were  more  uniform  in  faith  and  practice  it 
would  be  to  us,  and  to  the  cause  of  our  Saviour,  a  blessing. 
Our  churches  have  suffered  much  from  false  doctrines  preached 
by  men  who  were  received  among  us  because  their  moral  char- 
acter was  good.  The  phrase  *  liberal  Christianity '  has  often 
ensnared  them  from  its  liability  to  abuse.  The  ChristianP 
imst  have  regularity,  and  look  to  their  own  interests,  or  they 
will  be  a  scattered  and  devoured  people. 

"  ^^^'ould  impress  upon  the  minds  of  our  youth  a  love  for 
our  attairs  and  operations.     Our  children  should  be  taught  to 
love  the  denomination  of  their  fathers'  choice.     Do  this;  and 
wnen  the  fathers  are  dead,  their  children  will  walk  in  the  same 
aenommational    footsteps.     None    should    excuse   themselves 


^ll' 


I 


94    LIFE  AM)  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

from  this  effort  for  fear  of  sectarianism.  .  .  .  The  Chris- 
tians are,  and  must  be,  a  sect.  It  cannot  and  should  not  be 
avoided.  ...  In  this  light  1  view  the  Christians  :  and  as 
a  member  of  that  Connexion,  I  should  prove  recreant  to  hon- 
esty and  consistency  if  I  did  not  use  the  means  and  influences 
in  my  power  to  advance  her  denominational  interests  in 
preference  to  all  others." 

These  paragraphs — copied  from  a  late  number  of  our  New 
England  organ — are  from  the  pen  of  an  esteemed  and  mfluen- 
tial  "Christian"  minister,  and  are  commended  to  our  attention 
both  by  the  importance  of  the  subject  they  treat,  and  by  the 
high  standing  of  the  writer. 

1  commence  a  brief  review  of  this  writer's  position  by  re- 
marking that  some  of  the  things  which  he  alleges  as  causes  of 
our  denominational  woes,  are  evidendy  the  result  of  agencies 
over  which  no  possible  system  of  denominational  compacture 
can  have  any  control. 

If  *'  our  churches  have  suffered  from  false  doctrines,"  so  have 
the  churches  of  every  denomination  : — and  those  whose  sectarian 
lines  have  been  tightly  drawn,  not  a  whit  less  than  those  whose 
denominationalism  has  been  lax  or  liberal.  Creed-governed 
sects  have  contained  as  many  wicked  men,  and  produced  as 
many  false  doctrines,  as  the  more  liberal  sects.  Wherever  a 
deficiency  or  superficialness  of  the  spirit  of  Christian  life  exists, 
there  of  necessity  '•  false  doctrines"  will  obtain  :  and  they  will 
obtain  in  spite  of  the  most  stringent  creed  that  human  wisdom 
can  devise.  For,  a  church  in  which  the  Bible  becomes  partially 
a  dead  letter,  will  experience  no  difficulty  in  making  its  creed 
such  also.  It  is  a  fact  which  may  be  read  anil  known  of  all  men 
that  the  most  stringent  creed  systems  ever  employed  to  govern 
the  Church  and  to  preserve  its  [)urity,  have  j>roved  themselves 
utterly  impotent  to  keep  alive  the  love  spirit  of  our  faith,  or  to 
prevent  the  irruptions  of  heterodoxy.  This  last  statement  is 
amply  confirmed  by  the  history  of  those  rigid  denominational- 
ists,  the  older  Calvinistic  sects.  In  England,  for  instance,  the 
Presbyterians  gradually  abandoned  the  doctrines  and  govern- 
ment of  their  founders;  and  passing  through  Arminianism  and 
Arianism,  have  ended  in  Socinianism.  In  the  Congregational 
churches  of  New  England,  what  multitudes  have  apostatized 
from  the  rigid  system  of  their  forefathers  into  Unitarianism  ! 
In  the  Anglican  Church,  once  Calvinistic  in  its  faith,  and  still 
Calvinistic  in  its  creed,  Arminianism  is  known  to  be  the  actual 


'J 


THE  COXFEREXCE  ADDRESS  95 

faith  of  .the  great  majority  of  its  clergy.  The  Presbyterian 
Church  m  the  United  States,  you  well  remember,  was  agitated 
a  few  years  ago  by  an  internal  controversy  which  resulted  in 
the  separation  of  many  thousands  from  the  original  body  who 
strange  to  say,  had  come  to  maintain  the  very  tenets,  for  the 
exclusion    of  which,    their   creed  was  particularly  deigned 

f  nT  then.  '""TT" '  ^^''''        ^^-^   "^"^  ^^"^^   ^   "^^^^^    ^^SSOn 

from  them,  at  this  juncture,  in  our  denominational  affairs 
Suppose  we  should  adopt  a  strict  denominational  system.* 
What  security  would  we  have  that  our  system  could  preserve 
uniformity  of  faith,  and  prevent  the  entrance  -of  false  doc- 
trine  while  these  far  stricter  systems  than  we  could  possibly 
adopt,  have  so  signally  failed  ?  v^^^i^i}f 

Nay,  my  brethren,  we  cannot  prevent  '* false  doctrine"  bv 
denominational  legislation.  Should  we  write  the  true  doctrine 
in  a  creed  book  and  demand  assent  to  it  of  our  ministry,  and 
unanimously  resolve  upon  its  uniformity,  the  **  false  doctrine" 
could  not  even  thus  be  kept  at  bay.  A  few  years  would  per- 
haps exhibit  us  in  the  predicament  of  the  Church  of  England  • 
with  one  kind  of  doctrines  enforced  in  our  creed,  and  their  ver^ 
opposites  proclaimed  from  our  pulpits  ^ 

But,  says  the  brother  before  quoted,--  the  Christians  must 
have  regularity,  and  look  to  their  own  interests ;  or  they  wnibe 
a  scattered  and  devoured  people  "  ^ 

reSitv?''  Ther."""''  ^'^'  ^^g"^^"^y-"  But  what  kind  of 
regularity?     There  is  a  factitious  regularity,  the  product  of 

denominationa  systems  of  external  order ;  and  Teres  a 
heavenly  regularity,  the  harmonious  workings  of  the  ove 
sp.nt  left  to  the  sole  guidance  of  its  own  law.  ^  Wh  ch  -  rS 

ei  g  a  '^s^attrd  and"^ d^  '"^  ^^"^^T^  ^^""^^  ^^  -"'- 
saved  others  Th.  ?ni  T'""^-  P"?P^"'"  ^^^^"^^  ''  ^as  not 
uh7.K  K        u  ^    ^  '''^^"'"  ^^^^  ^S'  ^hat  those  denominations 

it^'s^rttered'Tnd''  T  '"'.'^"  ^^^"^^^^^>^  ^^^  ^^^ 
"vT^ich  Tl^^f  devoured    people  "    in   Christendom. 

been  Hiv  H  H        ?''  ^  reed -governed,  Protestant  sects  has  no 

"re^ularlv"  tT/   f  How  can  we  expect  this  factitious 

^S'///l  r^L^    ""T  ^^''  ''  ^^'  "^^  ^^"^  ^^'  others? 
tl    2'^'  I  repeat,  we  do  want ;  we  must  have  :— regularity 
no  factitious  and  earthly  (God  save  us  from  that)-bufheavenV 
ha  e^'  re^^lX    "'  ^"^/^"^  inspire  our  hearts,  and  we  shaU 
nave     regularity     enough.     That  will  be  the  regularity  of  the 


1' 


i 


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'J-: 


)t 


96    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

living,  harmoniously  developing  man  ;  the  other,  at  best,  would 
be  but  the  dead,  mechanical  regularity  of  an  automaton.  And 
such,  I  believe,  would  be  the  "regular  mode  "  proposed  in  the 
following  editorial  extract  : 

'*  We  want  every  church  to  adopt  certain  rules  of  agreement 
touching  their  moral  and  Cliristian  deportment — their  obliga- 
tions to  each  other  and  the  church  with  which  they  unite ;  their 
obligations  to  act  together  both  as  private  citizens  and  members 
of  one  body ;  and  that  these  rules  of  agreement  obligate  Qa.c\\  mem- 
ber to  walk  by  certain  specific  Scripture  rules,  such  as  attend- 
ance upon  the  various  kinds  of  meetings  of  the  church  ;  the  or- 
dinances ;  acting  with  the  church  in  sustaining  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  their  ability  ;  maintaining  church  discipline  accord- 
ing to  Scripture  specifications,  etc. 

"  IVe  want  those  who  unite  with  our  churches  to  understand 
that  these  things  are  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures,  and  that  all 
who  unite  with  us  agree  thus  to  walk.  Then  we  want  that  our 
conference  should  adopt  rules  obligatory  on  ail  its  members, 
which  shall  obligate  each  to  act  with  his  brethren  in  carrying  on 
the  great  work  of  saving  souls,  by  [)reaching  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  honouring  the  name  and  cause  of  religion,  by  a  regular 
mode  of  admission,  ordination,  examination  and  labour.'' 

The  plain  English  of  this  extract  seems  to  be  that  "  our 
churches"  should  no  longer  permit  their  ministers  nor  mem- 
bers to  understand  the  Scriptures  according  to  the  light  which 
God  may  give  to  them  individually;  and  to  act  according  to 
their  own  views  of  its  requirements,  without  constraint  of  their 
brethren  :  that,  on  the  contrary,  our  ministers  ought  to  be  "ob- 
ligated "  by  conferential  rules,  to  exercise  their  ministerial 
functions  in  that  i)ai  ticular  mode  which  a  majority  of  the  votes 
of  conference  may  determine;  that  "  every  church  "  ought  to 
adopt  "  certain  rules  of  agreement  "  touching  their  obligations 
to  each  other  and  to  the  church  of  which  they  are  members  ; 
and  that  these  rules  should  "  obligate  "  them  to  walk  by  "cer- 
tain specific  Scripture  rules  "  ;  of  which  one  at  least  is  nowhere 
contained  in  Scripture:— I  mean  that  one  which  enjoins  "  at- 
tendance on  the  various  kinds  of  meetings  of  the  church." 

I  am  surprised  at  such  sentiments  from  such  a  source — from 
men  whom  we  had  ever  regarded  as  earnest  and  efficient  ad- 
vocates of  Christian  liberty.  Strange!  that  our  r<?^7/ ailment 
could  thus  escape  them  ;  and  for  the  cure  of  only  incidental 
evils,  they  would  make  trial  of  that  factitious  regularity  which, 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 


97 


as  heretofore  tried,  has  ever  resulted  injuriously  for  Christian 
freedom  and  spiritual  life.  Were  the  ''  Christians  "  a  sect,  such 
sentiments  from  their  ministers  could  excite  no  surprise— would 
seem,  indeed,  quite  consistent  and  proper ;  but  professing  as 
they  do,  principles  utterly  hostile  to  sectarianism,  how  can' we 
otherwise  than  be  surprised  to  hear  from  "Christian"  min- 
isters such  utterances  as  those  quoted  above  ? 

1  said—"  were  the  Christians  a  sect.''  But,  "  the  Christians 
are  a  sect,"  says  the  brother  whom  I  before  quoted;  and  he 
adds,  "  /  sincerely  hope  that  they  will  be  more  denominational 
(sectarian)  than  ever." 

"The  Christians  are  a  sect!"  How?  Why?  Because 
they  have  "  adopted  a  ?iame  and  sentiment  different  from  the 
parties  they  left. "  Ah  !  Well  !  If  this  constitute  a  sect,  then 
we  are  a  sect,  certainly.  But  I  had  supposed  that  in  our 
usage  of  the  word  "sect"  we  intended  much  more  than  the 
adopting  of  a  particular  name  and  particular  sentiments.  I 
had  supposed  that  we  understood  a  sectarian  to  be  an  exclu- 
sionist— to  be  void  of  the  catholic  spirit  of  Christianity ;  and 
that  we  regarded  sect  as  differing  from  schism  only  as  posterior 
differs  from  prior. 

This,  evidently,  was  the  view  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  as  I  gather 
from  a  passage  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (ii  •  i8  ig) 
"  When  ye  come  together  in  the  church,  I  hear  that  there  be 
DIVISIONS  among  you  "  (in  the  original  it  is  schismata,  that  is 
SCHISMS),  "and  I  partly  believe  it.  For  there  must  also  be 
HERESIES  (in  the  original  the  word  is  haireseis,  the  same  that 
IS  translated  sect  wherever  this  word  occurs  in  the  common 
Kngl.sh  Bible)  "  For  there  must  be  also  sects  among  you, 
that  they  which  are  approved   may  be  made  manifest  among 

The  sentiment  contained  in  these  verses  is  in  substance  this : 
1  hat  the  Apostle  could  credit  the  statement  which  he  had 
heard  respecting  the  existence  of  schisms  in  the  church  at 
Lormth,  because  he  had  expected  that  sects  would  arise  amon? 
them.  Evidently  then  he  regarded  sect  as  the  fruit  of  schism. 
vv  hat  opinions  he  entertained  of  schism,  he  has  stated  partic- 
ularly at  the  beginning  of  the  epistle  above  quoted 
(I  :  10-12)  :  ^ 

"  Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  things ;  and  that  there 
tie  no  divisions  among  you;"  (in  the  original   the  word  is 


\ 


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98     LIFE  AND  LP:TTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

schismata,  that  is  schisms)-^''  but  that  ye  be  perfectly  joined 
together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment.  For  it 
bath  been  declared  unto  me  of  you,  my  brethren,  by  them  which 
are  of  the  house  of  Chloe  that  there  are  contentions  among 
you.  Now  this  I  say,  that  every  one  of  you  saith  I  am  of 
Paul ;  and  I  of  ApoUos  ;  and  I  of  Cephas  ;  and  I  of  Christ  " 
—(how  like  are  these  to  the  contentions  of  schismatics  in  our 
day  :  from  whom  we  continually  hear,  I  am  of  Luther ;  and  I 
of  Calvin ;  and  I  of  Wesley).  Then  presently  the  Apostle 
adds  :  "  For  whereas  there  are  among  you  envying,  and  strife, 
and  divisions,  are  ye  not  carnal,  and  walk  as  men  ?  For  while 
one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul;  and  another,  I  am  of  Apollos  ;  are  ye 
not  carnal ?  ' ' 

These  divisionists — Paulites  and  Cephites,  and  Apollites — 
doubtless  composed  the  "  sec/s  "  of  which  mention  was  made 
in  a  passage  before  (juoted.  How  plainly  the  Apostle  rebukes 
these  sectarians,  tellmg  them,  "  Ye  are  carnal,  and  walk  as 
men  !  " 

In  another  passage  this  Apostle  has  spoken  as  follows : 

"  Now  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  manifest ;  which  are  these  : 
Adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry, 
witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife,  sedi- 
tions, SECTS  (the  original  is  /laireseis,  as  before),  envyings, 
murders,  drunkenness,  revellings,  and  such  like ;  of  which  I 
tell  you  before,  as  1  have  also  told  you  in  time  past,  that  //ley 
who  do  such  thin,s^s  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God'* 
(Galations  19  :    20). 

How  awful  is  this  statement !  The  confirmed  sectarian  ranks 
with  drunkards  and  murderers!  He  ** shall  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God." 

Perhaps  it  is  not  generally  known  that  **  Sectarian  "  and 
**  Heretic"  are  convertible  terms. — Perhaps,  indeed,  common 
usage  has  established  some  difference  of  signification  between 
these  words.  But  then,  it  is  a  very  suggestive  fact  that  the 
word  heresy  and  sect  as  found  in  the  English  Bible,  are  repre- 
sentatives of  one  and  the  self-same  *' original  "  word.  And  it 
is  by  no  blunder  of  our  translators  that  it  is  so  :  for,  **  Sect " 
had  never  an  existence,  except  **  heresy"  had  produced  it; 
and  "  Heresy  "  (as  popularly  understood)  is  not  heresy  except 
it  beget  the  sect-spirit.  Accordingly,  in  the  New  Testament, 
'*  heresy"  and  "sect"  are  used  interchangeably;  and  heretic 
and  sectarian  are  essentially  the  same.      Heresy,  then,  does 


\ 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS  99 

not  consist  in  merely  holding  opinions  differing  from  those  of 
the  majority  of  a  given  body  of  religionists.  Heresy,  as  dis- 
tuiguished  by  the  New  Testament,  respects  a  state  of  heart 
radier  than  a  form  of  opinion.     Dr.  MacKnight  justly  remarks 

"  Heresies,  being  ranked  among  the  works  of  the  flesh,  must 
be  opinions  in  religion  embraced  from  pride  of  understanding 
and,  factiously  obtruded  on  others,  in  opposition  to  a  man's 
own  conviction,  for  the  sake  of  worldly  interest  " 

Admitting  the  correctness  of  this  definition  of  Heresy,  who 
then  IS  a  heretic?    Let  us  put  a  case.     Suppose  a  certain  niember 
in  good  standing  in  one  of  -  our  churches,"  becomes  a  con- 
vert to  the  doctrine  that  all  men  will  ultimately  become  holy 
and  happy:— becomes  in  sentiment  a  Universalist.     He  con- 
tniues  the  same  earnest  and  devoted   man  that  his  friends  have 
ever  known  him ;   lives  a  life  of  Christian  obedience,  and  as- 
sociates with  his  brethren,  as  before,  in  the  relations  and  duties 
of  the  Church      What  should  the  Church  do  with  such  a  man  ? 
Should  it  -labour"  with  him?  and,  if  he  did   not  renounce 
his  opinion,  excommunicate  him  ?    That  is  what  some  churches 
would  do  with  him  ;  unless,  perchance,  he  were  wealthy.     But 
why  should  this  man  be  -laboured"  with  as  a  -  heretic  "  ? 
he  IS  a  Christian ;-{nm\s  (as  far  as  man  may  judge)   all  his 

t 'bun'  "''T  •'"  ^r^^^"^  ^^  ^^  sure,'ind'aiocaS 
them  but  is  not  factious  ;  foments  no  divisions  in  the  Church  • 
and  leads  a  life  of  Christian  obedience.  Certainly  it  Vvere  a 
gross  violation   of  charity  to    arraign  such  a  man!  and  con' 

InionsT  %l ''  'r^^"'.'   ^^^l^ ''  he  does  entertain  erroneous 
opinions  !     Does  he  not  in  his  obedience  afford  Scriptural  evi- 

^^  c"  f  n  ^'  I  "^r"'^^  "^  ^^^^^^'^  ""^^^^^-1  Church  ?  If 
Chrs   can  fellowship  him,  cannot  you  ?     If  he  is  a  member  of 

e^  ouJh  r  '"'^^^  ^^  ^^^r^^  ^"^  h^^y  «"^^'  i^  he  not  good 
enough  to  remain  a  member  of  your  Christian  organization  ? 
;;  Excommunicate  him  for  heresy  !  "     Beware  how  you  do  that 

li  n-  T'"^'"  l^^  ^'"^  say--^^  have  done  it  unto  Me." 
a.e  unnJrT.  H  a'"^^  "'  '^u '  '^^  Christians  of  the  primitive 
F^.c/cf  TK  ^  ^^'^^"^^!?»  b^t^^^^"  Faith  {pistis)  and  Opinion 
an  d?'  1  ^"^^''/^^^'^^^  articles  of  faith,  he  tells  us,  were  it^ 
n  1  -^  ^  '  ^^^  ^"'P^^  '''''"'  '^^'  ^ff^^^ed  for  the  exercise  of 
h  nded  ^rh/r"'V-  P^'^^^^^^^y'/^  they  regarded  it,  compre- 
nended  the  essential  elements  of  spiritual  life.     Metaphysical 


Hi 


Ir 


\\ 


*  • 


JiJt 


100    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


II 


theories  and  theological  disputations  they  did  not  regard  so 
highly:  nor  did  they  consider  differences  in  respect  to  these 
as  requiring  the  exercise  of  the  church  discipline. 

In  this  respect  1  think  the  early  Christians  acted  wisely. 
Faith  is  distinct  from  Opinion.  Happy  if  the  Church  had  ever 
regarded  it  so  !  Christian  faith  is  the  fruit  of  the  heart : — "  with 
the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness."  Opinion — (even 
theological  opinion) — is  but  tlie  offspring  of  the  head  ;  and 
often,  alas  !  it  comes  forth — as  Minerva  is  fabled  to  have  sprung 
from  the  brain  of  Jupiter — armed,  and  fierce  for  conflict.  Oh  ! 
that  the  Church  in  this  age  would  recognize  the  primitive  dis- 
tinction between  Faith  and  Opinion.  Then  might  it  learn  that 
multitudes  whose  opinions  are  irreconcilable  and  conflictive, 
and  who  therefore  look  suspiciously  upon  each  other,  are  one  in 
faith — co-heirs  of  the  same  glorious  inheritance. 

To  present  this  point  more  clearly,  I  beg  your  attention  to 
one  or  two  Scri[)ture  statements.      For  instance,  when  it  said  : 

"  Without  faith  it  is  imi)ossible  to  please  God  :  for  he  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a  re- 
warder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him  "  (Hebrews  ii  :  6). 

Here  are  stated  two  facts  which  every  man  that  cometh  to 
God  •*  must  believe."  First,  he  must  believe  that  there  is  a 
God — **  that  He  is."  Secondly,  he  must  believe  that  God  "  is 
a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him."  These  two 
points  the  Apostle  presents  as  articles  of  faith  ;  they  are  not  to 
be  regarded  as  matters  of  opinion. — Suppose,  now,  some  one 
should  answer,  "  I  grant  that  God  exists,  and  it  is  well  thus  to 
believe;  but  it  is  necessary  to  understand  how  He  exists."  I 
would  rei)ly,  Nay,  not  so  ;  that  belongs  to  the  department  of 
Opinion  ;  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  Faith.  The  Apostle  does 
not  say  that  we  "must  believe  "  how  God  exists,  in  order  to 
**come  to  Him," — that  we  must  hold  some  particular  theory 
respecting  the  mode  of  God's  Being.  No  such  thing.  We 
may  have  our  theory  of  this  subject  if  we  want  it,  and  can  ob- 
tain it  honestly  ;  but  we  should  know  that  theory — that  opinion, 
is  not  faith. 

Let  me  illustrate  the  application  of  this  principle.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Woods  and  Rev.  Dr.  Pond  are  two  eminent  ortho- 
dox theologians,  and,  I  believe  I  may  add,  Christians.  They 
both  believe  that  God  exists,  but  they  differ  as  respects  the 
mode  of  His  existence.  Dr.  Woods  believes  that  God  exists  in 
three  distinct  persons — Father,  Son,  and   Holy  Spirit.      *'The 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 


101 


Father,"  says  he,  "is  a  person— that  is,  an  intelligent,  moral, 
voluntary,  individual  being.  The  Son  is  equally  possessed  of 
what  is  essential  to  personality.  He  has  a  will  distinct  from 
His  Father.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  all  the  marks  of  personality. 
The  Father  and  Son  are  two  distinct  persons  as  much  as  Jacob 
and  Joseph  are  two  distinct  persons.  But  there  are  not  three 
(luds." 

Dr.  Pond  teaches  differently.  He  tells  us  that  "  three  en- 
tirely distinct  intellects,  sensibilities,  and  wills  constitute  three 
separate,  independent  minds  ;  or  (which  is  the  same),  three 
Gods,"  if  predicated  of  the  "  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost." 

Thus,  then,  what  Dr.  Woods  regards  as  the  correct  view  of 
the  mode  in  which  the  one  God  exists.  Dr.  Pond  declares  to 
be  equivalent  to  believing  the  existence  of  three  Gods.  What 
then?  Is  Dr.  Woods  or  Dr.  Pond,  therefore,  without  faith? 
Not  at  all.  They  both  heartily  believe  that  God  "is,"  and 
that  "He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him." 
Their  faith  is,  therefore,  the  same ;  they  differ  in  respect  to  an 
opinion. 

Hut  now,  should  one  of  these  brethren  say  to  the  other, 
"  Vou,  sir,  reject  my  view  of  the  mode  of  God's  existence  :  I 
account  this  to  be  a  rejection  of  the  faith.  I  will  henceforth 
hold  no  fellowship  with  you.  I  will  regard  and  hate  you  as  a 
heretic."  Would  this  be  right?  Nay,  indeed!  It  would  be 
sectarian,  unchristian,  wicked. 

Take  another  illustration.  In  order  to  become  a  Christian 
one  must  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God.  St.  John 
tells  us  in  his  "  Gospel,"— "  These  things  were  written  that  ye 
might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God )  and 
that,  believing,  ye  might  have  life  through  His  name." 

Observe  here  that  "life"  is  offered  upon  the  condition  of 
believing  (with  the  heart,  of  course)  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
Son  of  God.  Now,  if  an  humble,  sincere  man  thus  accepts 
Jesus,  will  not  that  acceptance  procure  him  "  life"  ? 

Ah!— some  one  replies— it  is  easy  to  say,  "I  believe  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God  ;  "  a  Unitarian  could  do  that. 
But  tell  us  how  He  is  God's  Son  :— whether  by  "  Eternal 
Generation,"  or  by  His  supernatural  birth,  or  by  His  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead.  Come,  let  us  know  what  is  your  faith  re- 
specting this  point. 

I  would  answer.  My  dear  sir,  this  is  not  a  point  of  faith,  it  is 
a  matter  of  opinion.     I  believe  the  fact  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of 


•*■>**  « 


h  I 


102    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

God ;  and  have  submitted  to  His  authority.  But  respecting 
how  He  is  God's  Son,  I  have  never  yet  been  able  to  form  a 
satisfactory  opinion. 

Now,  if  Christians  do  differ  in  opinion,  ought  such  differ- 
ences to  proceed  to  the  extent  of  causing  divisions  and  separa- 
tions among  them?  Cannot  Christians  of  different  opinions 
**  walk  together  "  in  church  relations  ?  Can  they  not  cooperate 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  interests  of  piety  and  humanity? 
Can  they  not  unite  in  worship,  and  meet  at  the  communion 
board  with  those  whom  they  expect  to  meet  in  the  pure  worship 
and  spiritual  communion  of  heaven  ?  Why  cannot  Christians 
consent  to  bear  with  one  another's  frailties  and  mistaken 
opinions  ?  Difference  of  opinions  does  not  justify  alienations  in 
your  families  ;  why  should  it  cause  them  in  the  family  of  God  ? 
You  do  not  debar  your  neighbour  from  the  communings  of  the 
social  circle  because  he  differs  with  you  in  his  views  of  various 
topics  upon  which  you  converse ;  why  then  should  you  debar 
from  your  church  communion  your  Christian  brother  because 
he  cannot  view  some  few  points  in  the  same  light  that  you  see 
them  ?  Shall  mutual  forbearance  be  exercised  everywhere  but 
in  the  Church  of  God  ? 

Come,  now;  if  Christ  has  received  us,  let  us  receive  one 
another ;  let  us  give  each  other  the  fraternal  hand.  We  will 
let  opinions  separate  us  no  more.  Believe  you  as  you  shall  see 
reason  for  believing — I  will  do  the  same.  Be  a  Calvinist  if  you 
must,  or  an  Arminian ;  it  is  enough  for  me  to  know  that  you 
are  a  Christian.     As  a  Christian  I  will  receive  you. 

Would  not  this  be  right  ?  is  it  not  desirable  ? 

Desirable  !  "  Who  desires  " — says  a  brother  before  quoted 
— **  to  class  in  the  same  church  an  honest  Calvinist  and  an 
honest  Free- wilier ? "  (Question,  Does  not  Jesus  Christ?) 
**  Let  Calvinists  have  organizations  by  themselves.  Free-grace 
believers  by  themselves,  and  so  on." 

'*  And  so  on  I"  But,  how  far  **  on  "  ?  Let  us  see  :  There 
will  need  be  several  kinds  of  Calvinistic  organizations;  for 
there  are  several  classes  of  Calvinists  :  there  are  <'  Hyper-Cal- 
vinists,"  "Strict  Calvinists,"  and  "Moderate  Calvinists." 
These  are  subdivided  by  opinions  on  various  topics.  For 
instance,  in  regard  to  church  government,  there  are  Calvinists 
who  believe  in  Episcopacy,  in  Presbyterianism,  in  Congrega- 
tionalism, and  in  Independency.  Calvinists  believing  in 
Episcopacy  are  separated  into  "  High  Churchmen  "  and  "  Low 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS  103 

Churchmen.''     Calvinists  believing  in  Congregationalism  are 
divided   by  the   Baptisn.al   question.     Some  of  them  are  Ban- 
tists;  some  are  Pedo-Baptist.     Calvinists  believing  in  Presbv- 
tenanism  are  divided  into  the  "  Regular  "  (as  the  Church  of 
Scotland)  and  "  Dissentmg."     Dissenting-Presbyterfan-Calvin- 
isls  are  divided    mto    "Relief-Synod,"    "Reformed-Synod," 
"beceder,     and  so  on.     Seceder-Dissenting-Presbyterian-Cal- 
yuiists  were  formerly   divided   into   -  Burghers  "  and   "  Anti- 
Karghers     ;  which,   however,  were  mostly  united  some  thirty 
years  ago,  and  now  form    the   "United    Secession    Church.'' 
But  this  does  not  include  the  sect  known  as  "Original  Seceders  " 
Now,  If  a  difference  of  opinion  respecting  "Free-will"  can 
justify  us   in   saying,   "Let   Calvinists   have   organizations  by 
themselves,  and  Free-grace  believers  by  themselves,"  why  may 
we  not  say  also,  let  the  "  United  Secession  "-Dissenting^s^ 
byterian-Calvinists  have  organizations  by  themselves,  and  the 

-Original    Seceder ''-Dissenting -Presbyterian -Calvinists    by 
hemselves  !     And  if  we  may  say,  "  Who  desires  to  c  ass  in 

^  ler''^?  'h'''^   "'^    ^""^'^  ^^^^^"^^^   ^^'^   ^"    J^onest  Free 
iller     ?  why  may  we  not  also  say.  Who  desires  to  class  in 

the  same  church  an  honest    Pro-Slavery-Methodist-Episcopal 
bdiev'er-in-the-Immersion-of-Believers-only,     with    an     honest 

Anti-Slavery-Methodist-Episcopal-believer'in-infant-s^rinklTn^^^^ 
Or  o  go  "on"  yet  further  (for  all  this  talk  is  about  op  n  ion 
quahfications  concerning  which  the  Bible  says  nothing)    Who 

^^^^l^^rw^'u'Z'^''^  '  Protective-Tariffife^'and  a 

nee- trader  ?     Why  should  there  not  be  parties  of  Free-trade 

Christians  and  High-tariff  Christians,  each  having  an  organiza 

ion  by  Itself,  as  well  as  the  Calvinists  and  Frelwillerf?     Is 

0    Free-trade  as  proper  a  test  of  church  fellowship  as  Free- 

y     I  rue,  the  Bible  does  not  authorize  us  to  make  Free- 

^i\^iu''Y ""^^^^^  but  neither  does  it  to  make 

iustifv   h.  f  V"  ^^.  ''  ^"     ''^"  further- Why  should  we  not 

JUS  ify   he  formation  of  a  new  sect  upon  the  basis  of  every  new 

nn  onanf?  '  V  ^^'''^."''^  "T^  ^^^""^  "P°"  ^"^  imagine  to  be 
cZ  tVr     1  '  ''I'y  """^  ^     "  N^  ^^0  ^an  ^^^^k  together  ex- 

and  .nn^K  t^^'f"^''' '^>^'  ^  S^^^  b^^fher,  before  quoted: 
and  another  brother_a  former  editor  of  our  New  England 

u  th.f  ""r  ^"  ^^^"^^"^ber  of  the  "Connexion  "-assures 
Leorir  -Tu^-'^'V"^'^'  ^"  '^^  "^^"^^  «f  things,  differ 
Te  or..nf 'r"  '^"''  '^^^olog^cal  views;  and  to  fuse  them  into 
one  organization  is  not  the  way  to  promote  Christian  union." 


<« 


).' 


104    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


PI 


», 


I  say,  then,  let  sects  and  divisions  be  niultiplied.  Let  every 
view  and  every  opinion  in  theology  be  made  the  basis  of  a  sepa- 
rate sect-organization.  Let  our  hundreds  of  sects  become  thou- 
sands. In  every  village  where  one  church  would  be  sufficient 
(but  where  there  are  now  two  or  three),  let  there  be  a  dozen  or 
twenty.  And  then  let  all  these  churches  sedulously  cultivate 
a  denominational  spirit.  Let  every  good  man  connected  with 
them  tell  his  brethren — "  We  are  a  sect.  I  sincerely  hope  we 
will  be  more  denominational  than  ever  !  We  must  look  to  our 
own  interests.  Our  children  should  be  taught  to  love  the  de- 
nomination of  their  fathers'  choice.  I  will  use  all  the  influence 
and  means  in  my  power  to  advance  our  denominational  interest 
in  preference  to  all  others." 

If  every  member  in  every  sect  of  the  thousands  thus  to  be 
formed  should  so  resolve,  gracious  Heaven  !  when  would  the 
prayer  of  Jesus  be  answered,  and  His  followers  become  one? 

"  The  prayer  of  Jesus  !  Did  Jesus  pray  for  the  unity  of  His 
followers?"  Indeed  He  did.  Read  His  prayer  recorded  in 
the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John's  Gospel : 

"Holy  Father  !  keep  through  Thine  own  name  those  whom 
Thou  hast  given  Me,  that  they  may  be  one  as  we  are.  .  .  . 
Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  who  shall  be- 
lieve on  Me  through  their  word  ;  that  they  all  may  be  one ;  as 
Thou  Father  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may  be 
one  in  us;  that  the  world  may  believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me." 

Christians  would  be  one  in  a  very  intimate  sense,  if  they 
were  one  as  Jesus  and  His  Fatlier  are.  If  all  Christians  were 
one  in  them,  then  were  separations  and  strifes  and  discords 
ended  forever. 

And  why  should  not  unity  reign  in  the  fold  of  Christ  ?  God 
has  provided  His  followers  with  every  element  necessary  for 
unity.  The  Church  has  ever  had  one  faith  (Eph.  4:  5).  In 
this  "one  faith"  all  Christians  are  united,  how  much  soever 
they  may  be  at  variance  in  their  opinions.  Then  again,  we 
have  "one  Lord,"  "one  hope,"  "one  calling,"  "one  bap- 
tism." There  is  also  "one  Spirit,"  and  it  is  said  in  Scripture 
that  Christians  "have  been  all  made  to  drink  into  one  spirit  " 
(i  Cor.  12  :  13).  In  this  consisted  the  unity  of  the  first  Chris- 
tians— '*  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart 
and  of  one  soul  "  (Acts  4  :  32).  Nothing  is  said  about  their 
opinions  ;  we  are  told  simply  that  they  were  united  in  affection 
and  in  purpose.     They  kept  "the  unity  of  the  spirit  "  ;  and 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 


105 


"by    one   spirit   they  were    all   baptized    into  one    body** 
(i  Cor.  12  :  13). 

In  several  places  in  the  New  Testament  the  Church  is  repre- 
sented under  the  figure  of  the  human  body  ;  of  this  mystic 
body  Christ  is  the  head,  and  all  His  followers  are  members. 
So  Paul  in  a  certain  place  says, 

"As  we  have  many  members  in  one  body,  .  .  .  so  we, 
being  many,  are  one  body  in  Christ,  and  every  one  members 
one  of  another  "  (Rom.  12:4,  5). 

In  another  place,  i  Corinthians  12  :  24,  25,  the  same  Apostle 
tells  us  that 

"God  hath  tempered  the  body  together;  .  .  .  that 
there  should  be  no  schism  in  the  body,  but  that  the  members 
should  have  the  same  care  one  for  another." 

God  therefore  designs  that  the  utmost  unity  shall  reign  in 
His  Church— that  it  shall  be  "  One  Body."  But  how,  I  pray 
you,  can  the  Church  become  "one  body,"  so  long  as  it  is 
sundered  into  a  thousand  fragments  ?  How  can  we  be  truly 
"members  one  of  another,"  while  we  are  separated  into  in- 
numerable sects,  and  will  hold  no  church  fellowship  with  each 
other?  And  how  can  Christians  feel  "  the  same  care  one  for 
another,"  when  each  connects  himself  with  a  litde  exclusive 
party;  and  determines  that  he  will  "use  the  means  and  in- 
fluence in  his  power  to  advance  her  denominational  interest  in 
preference  to  all  others  "  ? 

My  brethren,  we  have  no  right,  under  any  pretense,  to  make 
divisions  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  We  have  no  right  to  form 
an  ecclesiastical  organization  upon  principles  and  regulations 
of  our  own  devising,  and  name  it  a  Christian  church.— We 
have  a  right — we  who  are  Christians  in  any  place — to  associate 
as  a  church  upon  the  principles  established  by  Jesus.  If  we  do 
this,  we  shall  be  a  Christian  church  differing  from  the  Church 
universal  only  as  the  part  differs  from  the  whole.  In  this  case 
we  shall  be  true  unionists ;  and  all  who  refuse  our  fellowship, 
knowing  that  westand  upon  theoriginal  principles  of  the  Church, 
will  be  schismatics;  and  must  answer  to  God  for  their  sin. 

Into  the  Church  thus  constituted,  we  have  no  right  to  refuse 
admission  to  any  Christian  who  applies  for  our  fellowship.  All 
local  churches,  being  parts  of  the  Church  universal,  should  be 
governed  by  the  laws  which  Christ  has  ordained  for  the  Church  : 
not  by  conferential  enactments,  and  regulations  of  their  own 
invention.     They  shall  also  extend  the  same  kind  of  fellowship, 


I  t' 


I 


100    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


ni 


and  practice  the  same  kind  of  communion,  that  Christ  has  in- 
stituted for  His  one  Church.  In  so  far  as  any  church  recedes 
from  the  observance  of  those  laws  which  Christ  has  ordained 
for  the  government  of  His  Church,  either  by  dropping  some  of 
them  or  by  adding  others  of  their  own  construction ;  and  in  so 
far  as  any  church  adopts  any  other  basis  of  fellowship,  or  es- 
tablisiies  any  other  kind  of  communion,  than  that  which  the 
sole  Head  and  Lawgiver  of  the  Church  has  api)ointed  ]  in  so 
far,  that  church  becomes  either  a  mere  human  institution,  or  a 
♦'  synagogue  of  Satan." 

Some  there  are  who,  I  fear,  will  deem  these  remarks  unkind 
or  unreasonably  earnest.  I  assure  such  that  I  design  no  un- 
kindness  by  these  remarks.  If  I  have  spoken  very  earnestly, 
it  is  from  a  conviction  of  duty  caused  by  a  sense  of  the  enor- 
mous evil  of  sectarianism.  That  sectarianism  is  an  evil,  most 
thoughtful  persons  admit.  But  the  mass  of  those  whose  atten- 
tion has  not  been  [)articularly  given  to  its  principles,  and  who 
have  seen  little  of  its  practical  working,  will  scarcely  deem  it  so 
great  an  evil  as  I  have  represented  it.  Oh  !  that  they  might 
see  it  in  all  the  horrid  deformity  of  its  real  character.  Oh ! 
that  God-fearing  men  everywhere  would  join  heart  and  hand 
for  its  overthrow.  Oh  !  that  the  youth  of  our  country— as  yet 
untrammelled  by  sect  influences,  and  generously  aspiring  to 
worthy  deeds— would  be  persuaded  to  cast  the  weight  of  their 
talents  and  influence  against  sectarianism,  that  monster  enemy 
of  man  and  of  God. 

Am  I  too  earnest  in  this?  Well,  be  it  so— I  cannot  speak 
carelessly  and  dispassionately  of  sectarianism.  I  cannot  forget 
that  my  Saviour,  with  almost  His  dying  breath,  prayed  ear- 
nestly for  the  unity  of  His  Church.  Could  He  remember  it  in 
the  dark  hour  of  His  death-agony,  and  shall  His  follower  for- 
get It  ?  Nay  !  Be  such  prayer  ever  upon  my  tongue,  and  its 
spirit  ever  in  my  heart !— *'  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but 
for  them  also  which  shall  believe  on  Me  through  their  word  ; 
that  they  all  may  be  one ;  .  .  .  that  the  world  may  be- 
lieve that  Thou  hast  sent  Me." 

The  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christianity  is  thus  suspended 
upon  the  unity  of  Christians.  Make  all  believers  truly  "one" 
— one  in  spirit,  one  in  aim,  one  in  holy  effort — and  you  bring 
all  nations  to  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Divide  the  Church  by  sects 
and  conflicting  interests,  and  you  deprive  the  Gospel  of  its 
power,  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  unbelief. 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 


lor 


"  What  few  religious  promptings  have  fallen  to  my  lot,"  said 
a  young  man  of  fine  talents  and  influential  position,  **are  ever 
encountered  by  the  great  stumbling-block  of  sectarianism. " 
This  is  the  experience  of  multitudes.  The  divisions  in  the 
Church  are  the  great  stumbling-block  by  which  many  fall  into 
indifl*erence  and  skepticism  and  ruin  ! 

O  Sectarianism  !  thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness  !  thou  bane 
of  charity  !  thou  fomenter  of  infernal  discords  !  thou  who  art 
fattening  upon  the  bleeding  hearts  and  ruined  souls  of  men  ! 
thou  who  hast  mangled  and  torn  asunder  the  mystic  body  of 
the  Son  of  God  !  thou  who  hast  mocked  His  expiring  agonies, 
and  set  at  naught  His  dying  prayer!  Arch-fiend  of  the 
universe  !     God  hasten  thy  return  to  thy  native  hell  1 

And  He  will  hasten  it.     Sectarianism  shall  not  always  curse 
the  earth,  and  rend  the  Church  of  God.     Messiah's  prayer  shall 
be  answered.     '*  He  shall  see  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  shall 
be  satisfied."     The  ''Body"  of  our  Great  Master— like  Him 
entombed  a  while— shall  arise  and  live.     "  The  Lion  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah  "  will  again  prevail.     With  the  grasp  of  omnip- 
otence will  He  raise  His  Church  from  her  grave,  and  will  speak 
in  her  ear  that  long  lost  word  of  her  ancient  power,  "  Love 
one  another:"  and  the  living  Church  will  hear  it  and   will 
speak  it  again,— Love  one  another  !     Ah  !  could  we  understand 
it,  in  this  lies  the  power  of  our  religion.     So,  at  least,  the 
primitive  Church  believed,  and  so  its  example  evinced.     "See 
how  these  Christians  love  one  another,"  was  the   testimony 
which  the  faithfulness  of  the  primitive  believers  extorted  from 
their  adversaries.     The  living,  ever  active  love  of  the  early 
Christians  was  the  argument  that  stopped  the  mouths  of  skep- 
tic-sophists, and  the  power  that  blunted  the  sword  of  persecu- 
tors.    It  was  this  that  caused  the  pagan  nations  to  cast  away 
their  idol-gods  and  bow  to  the  authority  of  Jesus.     It  is  this 
that  the  Church  needs  now.     It  needs  a  revival  of  the  spirit  of 
Divine  love— of  brotherly   kindness— of  charity,   that  it  may 
learn  to  bear  with  the  weakness  of  brethren — and  of  self-devo- 
tion, not  to  sect  interests,  but  to  the  universal  interests  of  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

This  is  what  the  Church  needs,  and  this  is  what  our  Con- 
nexion needs.  We  must  cease  our  scheming  and  contriving 
for  mere  denominational  advantage,  and  must  learn  to  regard 
the  interests  of  the  whole  Christian  brotherhood.  We  should 
nave  less  theologizing :  we  have  so  much  of  it  that  many  of  us 


i;, 


I 


;l 


li 


108     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


have  fallen  into  the  error  of  regarding  a  few  controverted 
dogmas  as  the  very  vitality  of  our  faith.  We  cannot  prosper  if 
we  are  much  occupied  with  disputings  about  opinions — with 
theologic  hair-splittings  and  dogma-mongerings.  The  atmos- 
phere which  nourishes  these  things  is  destructive  of  spiritual 
health.  Let  us  abandon  it  to  those  who  find  it  congenial.  Let 
us  determine  to  accept  Christianity  as  the  life  of  the  heart — as 
a  love-religion.  This  will  do  us  good.  This  is  what  "our 
churches"  need.  We  do  not  need  a  new  form,  but  a  new 
life — not  coincidence  of  opinions  and  uniformity  of  practices, 
but  the  unity  of  the  spirit — not  an  adoption  of  "obligatory" 
conferential  enactments,  but  an  increased  obedience  to  God's 
commandments. 

An  esteemed  brother  says  : 

**  If  we  would  promote  union  and  harmony  among  us,  there 
is  a  far  better  course  than  making  laws.  Let  us  not  be  so  self- 
righteous — pretending  we  have  done  the  best  under  the  laws 
we  have.  Let  us  own  that  our  law  is  perfect,  and  that  we 
have  failed  in  obeying  it ;  and  now,  let  us  yield  fully  to  its 
commands,  and  plainly  teach  them  to  all  the  people.  For  this 
purpose  we  need  no  conference  or  council  to  tell  us  what  to 
teach.  Our  true  course  is  to  bring  out  the  law  of  the  Lord  as 
God  Himself  caused  it  to  be  written  ;  and  not  on  the  authority 
of  men  assembled  in  conference ;  but  on  the  authority  of  the 
God  of  heaven — not  as  the  faith  of  'our  sect,'  but  as  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ.  Christian  union  is  not  promoted  by  com- 
mands, laws,  or  tests,  established  by  men  in  council ;  but  by 
plainly  teaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  urging  obedience 
thereunto  by  the  authority  of  God." 

These  are  true  statements.  They  deserve  especial  consider- 
ation of  the  ministry  of  our  Connexion.  I  wish  we  might  all 
realize  the  immediate,  pressing  necessity  of  fuller  and  more 
faitliful  dispensations  of  gospel  truth.  We  should  preach  more 
truth  from  our  pulpits ;  more  home  truth,  more  practical  truth. 
We  should  have  less  to  say  of  dogmas,  and  speculations,  and 
theories,  and  should  devote  ourselves  rather  to  preaching  the 
fundamental  facts,  and  enforcing  the  life-giving  principles  of 
the  Gospel. 

Our  pulpit  instructions  should  take  a  wider  range.  They 
are  narrow  and  restricted.  Many  of  the  great  interests  of  the 
Church  they  scarcely  touch.  There  are  truths  which  society  is 
languishing  to  hear,  and  which  it  should  hear  from  the  pulpit ; 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS 


109 


but,  alas  !  the  pulpit  rarely  utters  them.     Such  are  those  truths 
which  concern  the  physical  and  social  welfare  of  mankind.     The 
pulpit  should  teach  men  the  conditions  upon  which  God  has 
suspended  their  physical  perfection  and  happiness.     It  should 
teach  them  the  proper  government  of  the  animal  appetites.     It 
should  teach  them  how  to  render  the  body  subservient  to  the 
supreme  interests  of  the  soul.     **  The  body,"  says  Paul,  'Ms 
for  the  Lord  "  (i  Cor.  6 :  13).     In  accordance  with  this  prin- 
ciple he  taught  that  it  is  the  "reasonable  service"  of  men  to 
present  their  bodies  "a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable 
unto  God"  (Romans  12:  i).     Were  there  more  sanctification 
of  the  body,  there  would  be  more  sanctification  of  the  spirit ; 
that  is,  were  men  more  faithful  to  study  and  obey  the  laws  of 
their  physical  being,  many  of  the  hindrances  to  virtue,  which 
they  now  experience,  would  be  removed.     Instruction  of  this 
kind  comes  properly  within  the  province  of  the  pulpit ;  for 
without   it,  how   shall    men  be  able  to  glorify  God  in  their 
bodies?  (i    Cor.    9:  20),  and  whether  they  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatsoever    they     do,    to     do    all   to    the    glory    of    God? 
(i  Cor.  19  :  31). 

I  think  that  the  laws  of  man's  physical  nature  should  be 
explained  and  enforced  in  the  pulpit.  I  think  that  the  general 
usefulness  of  the  pulpit  would  be  much  increased,  were  it  more 
frequently  occupied  for  the  promulgation  of  those  truths  which 
regard  man's  physical  and  social  interests.  This  class  of  truths 
—ever  important— has  at  the  present  time  a  special  claim  upon 
the  attention  of  the  ministry.  Look  at  the  alarming  prevalence 
of  gluttony  and  sensuality.  See  how  secret  vice  is  eating  out 
the  life  of  multitudes  of  the  youth  of  our  country.  Here  are 
causes  continually  operative,  whose  certain  effects  are  to  blunt 
the  moral  sensibilities  of  their  subjects,  and  to  unfit  them  for 
s|)iritual  perception  and  elevated  thought.  To  these  evils  I 
see  not  how  the  ministry  can  remain  indifferent.  Upon  the 
pulpit  devolves,  I  believe,  the  solemn  duty  of  exposing  these 
evils,  and  attempting  their  cure.  They  should  be  made  the  sub- 
ject of  careful  and  judicious,  but  at  the  same  time,  earnest  and 
faithful  appeals  to  the  consciences  of  men.  Happy  will  that 
minister  be  who,  in  the  day  of  his  departure,  can  adopt  the 
words  of  Paul—"  I  kept  back  nothing  that  was  profitable  unto 
y°" ;  ...  for  I  have  not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all 
the  counsel  of  God." 

There  is  another  much  neglected  class  of  truths  that  society 


.  I 

I 


I 


■Ifl 


110    LIFE  A2^D  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


m 


is  suffering  to  hear.  I  refer  to  those  truths  which  relate  to 
man's  social  welfare. 

Multitudes  are  struggling  in  social  positions  to  which  they 
are  mentally  and  physically  unadapted.  And,  because  they 
are  thus  unadapted,  their  life  proves  a  failure  for  themselves, 
and  a  disadvantage  to  society.  What  course  should  the  pulpit 
pursue  in  regard  to  these  things  ?  Shall  it  leave  society  to 
struggle  out  its  own  deliverance  from  the  multiplied  evils 
which  oppress  it  ?  Or,  shall  it  not  rather  interest  itself  in  the 
social  movements  of  the  age ;  secure  the  sympathies  of  the 
struggling  masses,  and  teach  them  how  to  apply  the  principles 
of  Jesus  in  every  emergency  arising  in  their  social  progress  ? 
I  trust  that  our  pulpits  will  not  fail  to  speak  earnestly  and 
plainly  of  the  wants,  duties,  and  social  elevation  of  that  large 
portion  of  our  race,  to  whom  it  was  emphatically  said  by  the 
Saviour,  '*  The  Gospel  is  preached." 

Let  none  fear  that  the  dignity  of  the  pulpit  will  be  compro- 
mised by  such  a  course.  The  real  dignity  of  the  pulpit  con- 
sists in  its  faithful  dispensation  of  truth.  It  is  the  appointed 
dispenser  of  all  useful  truth.  And  the  Church  is  a  divinely 
instituted  society  for  universal  reform.  Hence,  every  evil  that 
afflicts  society  or  individuals  comes  properly  within  the  prov- 
ince of  church  action  and  pulpit  ministration.  Though  we 
are  never  to  forget  that  the  great  evil  of  society  and  of  man, 
the  source  of  all  human  wots,  is  a  heart  evil ;  and  that  the 
chief  attention  of  every  faithful  reformer  must  be  directed  to 
the  production  of  a  radical  change  in  individual  hearts  and 
lives. 

**  Make  Christians,"  says  the  celebrated  M.  Guizot,  in  an 
address  recently  delivered  before  the  French  Bible  Society, 
*'  make  Christians ;  it  is  Christians  that  our  society  requires. 
I  say  Christians,  that  is  our  name ;  that  is  what  we  ought  to 
propagate.  Our  society  ardently  desires  to  make  Christians 
everywhere.  It  calls  by  that  name  all  who  take  the  sacred 
writings  as  the  basis  of  their  faith,  of  their  hope  and  of  their 
charity.  Whether  they  be  in  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
or  in  the  different  branches  of  the  Protestant  Church,  it  sees  in 
them  Christians  and  brethren.  Union  in  the  party  of  political 
order  is  recommended,  and  rightly  so ;  that  union  is  in  fact 
the  only  means  of  safety ;  but  it  is  not  less  necessary  to  the 
party  of  moral  order.  The  question  is  now  between  Chris- 
tianity and  Impiety,  which  affects  to  advocate  the  interests  of 


THE  CONFERENCE  ADDRESS  lU 

Humanity.  All  Christian  forces  should  unite  against  the  com- 
mon enemy-.they  can  do  it.  A  new  fact  has  introduced 
Itself  —liberty  of  conscience  in  the  Christian  Church  Let 
that  liberty  be  accepted  and  respected  by  all  Christians:  it  will 
secure  their  union,  and  the  triumph  of  the  common  faith 

"But  beware  of  a  factitious  and  forced  union;  be  Christians 
to  the  fullest  extent  of  the  word.  Love  one  another:  that  is 
charity.  Support  one  another ;  that  is  tolerance.  Respect  one 
another ;  that  is  the  right  of  liberty.  Assist  one  another ;  that 
IS  your  well  understood  interest.  On  these  conditions  and 
on  these  alone,  there  is  safety  for  society.  We  are  in  the  path 
of  that  safety.  Christians  be  all  together  under  the  standard 
of  the  cross — Ifoc  signo  vincesy 

Nobly  and  truly  said  !  -  It  is  Christians  that  our  society 
requires.  It  is  Christians  that  the  Church  needs  for  its  puri- 
fication;  that  the  world  needs  for  its  deliverance.  Oh  •  for 
more  Christians;  for  true-hearted,  self-denying  followers  of 
Jesus  !  Oh  !  that  an  end  may  speedily  come  to  the  wild 
destructive  reign  of  Dogma  and  Sect;  and  that  their  place 
may  be  occupied  by  Christian  Obedience  and  Brotherly  Love  ! 

The  address  aroused  the  convention,  it  aroused  the 
whole  ^^  Christian  ^^  Connexion,  it  aroused  other  religious 
bodies.     It  no  doubt  disturbed  some,  angered  some  and 
perplexed  others,    leaving   them   in  doubt  where  they 
themselves  stood,    but  it  went  steadily  forward  in  its 
course  winning  new  friends  to  the  cause  of  sane  religion 
winning  new  friends  for  the  fearless  man  who  spoke  from 
the  depth  of  his  heart  in  all  charity  and  kindness.     Its 
splendid  temperateness,  no  less  than  its  absolute  sincerity, 
appealed.    Sharp  discussion  followed  its  delivery  coupled 
with  the  introduction  of  a  resolution  requesting  that  he 
withdraw  the  paper  from  publication  in  the  THhune, 
All  a^iknowledged  its  potency,  though  many  feared  its 
tttect,  but  the  resolution  was  voted  down  and  Truth 
went  on  its  way. 


\\ 


iiil 


J 


VII 

AT  BLOOMING  GROVE 

AS  we  follow  the  career  of  Austin  Craig  from  its 
begiuiiiug  to  the  eud  of  an  all  too  short  life,  we 
shall  find  that  it  was  a  constant  succession  of 
advances.  There  were  no  retreats.  There  were  no  weak 
ening  concessions,  no  temporiziug,  no  hesitation,  no  de- 
flection. There  were  battles  for  the  right  to  be  fought, 
but  he  was  equipped  for  them  in  the  strength  of  a 
splendid  Christian  manhood,  and  he  fought  them  always 
in  the  open.  The  preliminary  work  as  an  itinerant 
preacher  proved  invalnable  to  him  as  he  entered  upon  a 
larger  field.  It  had  broadened  him.  It  had  shown  him 
many  sides  of  life.  It  had  brightened  him  by  its  attri- 
tion and  strengthened  him  by  its  culture.  Feltville,  too, 
liad  helped  fit  him  for  the  broader  field.  He  had  stayed 
just  long  enough  in  the  itinerary,  long  enough  to  brush 
up  against  men  of  diverse  types,  long  enough  to  gain  the 
needed  experience,  not  long  enough  to  fall  into  the  sad 
groove  of  the  hackneyed  travelling  preacher,  often  im- 
provident, always  poor,  frequently  robbed  of  all  self- 
respect  by  humiliating  dependence  upon  charity. 

The  work  at  Feltville  was  so  difficult  a  one,  his  labour 
there  was  watched  with  deep  interest  by  many  who  had 
hoped  to  gain  him  for  their  own  congregations.  It  was 
so  signally  successful  it  heightened  the  interest  in  his 
pastoral  power  and  opened  the  way  to  calls  to  larger  fields. 

In  Orange  County,  New  York,  near  the  Hudson  River, 
is  situated  Blooming  Grove,  a  lovely  country  place  within 
a  rich  farming  region.     It  contained  an  historic  church. 

112 


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AT  BLOOMING  GROVE 


113 


ni 


It  was  established  in  1757,  and  had  beeu  ministered  to 
by  preachers  of  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian 
faiths.  The  church  was  founded  by  a  colony  of  immi- 
grants from  Long  Island,  descendants  of  the  Puritans. 
The  parish  was  a  large  one  and  the  church  commodious 
and  modern.  The  members  of  the  church  were  largely 
well-to-do  farmers  of  the  region.  They  were  a  sturdy. 
God-fearing  company  of  men  and  women,  devout  in  their 
liiith  but  singularly  open  to  the  truth.  There  were  more 
college-bred  men  in  that  church  than  in  any  other  in  the 
county.  They  were  thinking  men  and  women.  They 
had  beeu  for  nearly  a  century  identified  with  an  orthodox 
faith,  but  while  they  clung  tenaciously  to  the  essentials 
of  real  religion,  many  of  them  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
man-made  theology  of  the  day  but  were  ready  and  anx- 
ious to  accept  a  broader  faith.  The  church,  in  the  words 
of  the  pastor  who  was  to  be  called  to  them,  was  **an  ex- 
ample of  the  powerlessness  of  ecclesiastical  creeds  and 
denominational  prudential  regulations  to  hinder  religious 
progress  and  to  exclude  new  light. '^ 

In  1824,  Rev.  James  Arbuckle  of  Philadelphia,  became 
pastor  of  the  church.  He  was  of  the  Presbyterian  faith, 
atiiliated  with  the  Presbytery  of  the  Hudson.  He  was  a 
vi*;orous  thinker  with  a  will  all  his  own.  He  preached 
certain  things  which  some  of  the  congregation  did  not 
like  and  they  severely  arraigned  him  for  his  departures 
from  the  Presbyterian  creed.  The  major  portion  of  his 
congregation,  however,  adhered  to  him  and  he  led  them 
as  their  pastor  until  his  death  three  years  later. 

The  church  was  then  supplied  by  different  ministers 
while  an  earnest  search  was  continued  for  some  man  who 
could  fill  the  needs  of  the  place.  The  time  was  ripe  in 
the  church  for  a  change,  or,  better  put,  for  a  broadening. 
Though  it  may  not  have  taken  shape  in  words  there  were 
many  indications  that  it  was  destined  to  become  an  inde- 


'I' 


ii 


fr 


lU    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

pendent  church.  There  had  been  powerful  preachers  in 
the  church  iu  the  past,  men  of  thought,  vigour,  original- 
ity, ellectiveness :  it  would  not  do  that  any  oue  less  tal- 
ented should  be  chosen. 

One  day  some  member  of  the  congregation  bethought 
himself  of  the  young  Christian  minister,  Austin  Craig, 
who  was  winning  such  favourable  notice  as  a  pastor,  a 
deep  thinker,  a  sound  and  broad  scholar.  He  seemed 
precisely  the  person.  A  call  was  extended  to  him  to 
become  the  pastor  of  this  historic  church.  In  answer  he 
wrote  the  following  letter  : 

''New  York  City,  Nov.  15,  J 8^0. 

**  H.  J.  Moffat, 

"  Blooming  Grove,  N.  Y. 
'♦  Dear  Sir  and  Brother  : 

''  Your  letter  of  the  4th  instant,  inviting  me  to  assume 
the  pastoral  relation  to  the  church  at  Blooming  Grove,  was 
plactd  in  my  hand  a  few  days  ago  by  Brother  Lane.  1  tender 
my  thanks  to  the  church  for  this  unexi)ected  and  gratifying 
expression  of  their  confidence.  Before  I  signify  my  acceptance 
of  the  invitation,  I  wish  to  afford  the  church  an  opportunity  of 
becoming  better  acquainted  with  my  doctrines  and  principles, 
and  of  reconsidering  their  vote  inviting  me  to  become  their 
pastor.  The  relation  sustained  by  a  Christian  pastor  to  the 
church  of  his  charge,  is  too  intimate  and  important  to  be  hastily 
formed  or  hastily  dissolved.  I  purpose  therefore  (if  the  Lord 
pennii)  to  preach  to  the  church  at  Blooming  Grove  on  Sunday 
the  24fh  instant,  with  a  view  of  making  a  statement  of  my 
views  of  Christ  and  His  Gospel  (so  f^ir  as  it  shall  seem  proper), 
for  the  satisfaction  of  the  church.  If,  after  1  shall  have  made 
this  statement,  the  church  shall  still  desire  my  pastoral  services, 
it  will  be  my  pleasure  to  accept  their  call. 

**  Fraternally  yours, 

''Austin  Craig." 

Not  long  afterwards  he  sent  the  following  letter  to  his 
old  frieud  David  Felt,  the  founder  of  F'eltville,  which 
brought  out  the  letter  of  commeudatiou  giveu  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter : 


AT  BLOOMING  GROVE 


115 


''About  two  weeks  ago  I  received  from  the  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Blooming  Grove,  N.  Y.,  a  very  unex- 
pected'call '  to  become  pastor  of  their  society.  The  knowl- 
edge which  I  had  obtained  of  the  people  of  that  section,  in  two 
visits  which  I  made  to  Blooming  Grove  this  season,  produced 
a  very  favourable  opinion  of  them,  and  led  me  to  regard  with 
some  interest  the  '  call '  thus  given  me.  I  replied  stating  that 
I  would  visit  them  before  finally  answering  them,  and  would 
preach  my  views  of  Christ  and  the  Gospel ;  after  which,  if  they 
should  freely  and  unitedly  reaffirm  their  former  vote,  I  should 
be  disposed  to  accept  the  *  call.' 

'*  Pursuant  to  this  view,  I  visited  them  Sunday  before  last 
preached  to  them  as  I  purposed,  and  have  received  from  their 
clerk  the  statement  that  their  '  call '  has  been  reaffirmed  It 
seems  to  me  that  I  ought  to  accept  this  call.  My  reasons  are 
these  :— Ihe  situation  is  one,  in  every  respect,  desirable  :  in  a 
fine  region  of  country,  in  a  wealthy  and  very  intelligent  com- 
munity—a  large  and  influential  society,  and  a  fair  prospect  of 
extended  mfiuence  and  usefulness.  Besides,  the  salary  is 
ample,  and  the  pulpit  labour  required  very  light,— one  service 
per  day— leaving  me  much  leisure  for  other  means  of  useful- 
ness— the  pen,  etc. 

"A  second  consideration  which  inclines  me  to  accept  the 
call  IS  drawn  from  the  nature  of  my  connection  here ;  I  need 
not  tell  you  that  you,  yourself,  are,  pecuniarily  at  least,  the 
•Society     of  this   place.     The   permanence   of  my  situation 
here,  is,  then,  at  the  utmost,  identical  with  the  continuance  of 
a  single  life.     Some  time,  it  might  be  expected,  should  I  live 
that  your  withdrawal  from  the  village,  by  death,  or  otherwise, 
woulc    end  the  enterprise  of  the  Free  Religious  Society,  which 
your  liberality  has  hitherto  sustained.     Such  a  situation  as  is 
now  offered  me,  is  not  to  be  found  within  the  limits  of  my  own 
denomination  ;  and    it  is  not  likely  that  I  could  find  at  any 
tune  hereafter,  a  place  equally  to  be  desired  on  so  many  ac- 
counts.     In  view  of  these  facts,  I  defer  to  your  judgment, 
whether  it  would   not   seem   advisable  for  me  to  accept  the 
proffered  situation. 

"  In  saying  these  things,  I  beg  you  will  not  understand  me 
as  Hereby  implying  any  dissatisfaction  with  my  present  posi- 
tion. I  believe  that  I  have  found  it  as  pleasant  as  any  one  in 
the  same  position  could  find  it.  The  people  of  the  village, 
without  exception,  as  well  as  yourself  and  Mrs.  Felt,  have  ever 


/i 


116    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


AT  BLOOMING  GROVE 


IIY 


!     f'*! 


shown  ine  all  proper  kindness  and  regard  ;  and  I  will  here  take 
the  opportunity  to  thank  you  and  her — in  this  somewhat  formal 

way for   your  many  hospitalities  and  kindnesses  to  me.      Yuu 

have  done  much,  pecuniarily,  for  the  establishment  and  sup- 
port of  the  Gospel  in  your  village." 

Ill  March,  1851,  lie  was  installed  pastor  of  the  church 
at  Blooming  Grove.  It  wdn  a  long  pastorate  which  fol- 
lowed, where  the  closest  i)ossible  intimacy  between  pastor 
and  people  blossomed  and  fruited  in  mutual  regard. 
The  church  building  was  large  and  well  equipped,  the 
largest  country  church  in  the  county.  It  seated  about  a 
thousand.  Connected  with  the  church  was  a  flourishing 
acad<Miiy.  But  one  service  a  <lay  was  held,  in  the  morn- 
ing, with  a  lecture  in  the  middle  of  the  week.  *^Far 
better,"  the  new  pastor  wrote,  soon  after  accepting  the 
charge,  ^'tliis  praiseworthy  practice  of  one  sermon  a 
wet'k,  than  three  sermons  a  week  and  a  lecture  besides  in 
the  middle  of  the  week.  I  wonder  what  young  man  is 
competent  to  preach  200  sermons  a  year  worth  listening 
to  ?  I  should  much  rather  my  minister  should  preach 
tifty  than  200." 

iVIuch  leisure  was  now  given  for  the  deep  study  he  had 
begun  into  the  Gieek  and  Hebrew.  He  had  leisure,  too, 
for  writing,  and  he  began  that  long  course  of  contribu- 
tions to  the  press  which  continued  to  his  death.  The 
physical  location  of  the  church  was  most  attractive,  too, 
and  conducive  to  reflection  and  study.  "  The  Blooming 
Grove  church,  parsonage,  academy  and  district  school- 
house,"  he  writes  to  a  friend,  ^*  occupy  the  summit  and 
shoulder  of  a  hill  covered  in  part  even  now  with  the  oaks 
which  more  than  a  century  ago  embowered  the  first  social 
and  churchly  life  of  the  town,  and  suggested  its  appro- 
priate name.  Blooming  Grov€\  But  the  churchgoers  can 
no  longer  step  over,  at  '  intermission,^  from  the  church 
door  to  a  taveru  near  by, — as  ancient  traditions  hint. 


For  the  town  of  Blooming  Grove  has  since  those  days 
been  the  '  banner  town '  of  the  county,  for  temperance. 
And  as  for  that  sacred  spot — the  original  Blooming 
Grove,  there  is  now  no  tavern,  no,  nor  store,  nor  post-of- 
tice,  within  two  miles  of  it.  For  reading  and  study,  for 
meditation  and  communion  with  one's  own  heart,  this 
Blooming  Grove  is  the  fittest  of  places." 

A  lecture  course  was  established  and  each  winter  season 
pKjminent  speakers  from  the  larger  cities  were  heard.  It 
was  as  a  result  of  correspondence  with  one  of  these  lec- 
turers, the  Hon.  Horace  Mann,  then — and  shall  we  not 
say  even  now  ? — one  of  the  foremost  educators  of  America, 
that  Mr.  Craig  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Mann.  It 
was  an  acquaintanceship  that  deepened  and  strengthened 
with  the  years,  uniting  in  close  sympathy  two  men  of 
large  powers.  The  compensation  paid  for  these  lectures, 
twenty -five  dollars  a  night  and  travelling  expenses,  seems 
curiously  inadequate  when  the  character  and  standing  of 
the  speakers  are  taken  into  consideration  ;  but  it  was  not 
a  day  of  billionism. 

The  day  before  Horace  Mann  delivered  his  first  lecture 
in  Blooming  Grove,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  : 

"Some  natural  affinity  has  led  these  people  in  their  search, 
to  find  their  present  man,  Mr.  Austin  Craig.  He  is  now  about 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  and  a  most  extraordinary  young  man. 
He  was  led  to  invite  me  here  by  seeing  my  *  Thoughts  for  a 
Young  Man.'  He  devotes  himself  very  much  to  the  young. 
He  is  very  earnest  and  sincere ;  has  a  fine  cerebral  develop- 
ment, though  small  in  the  lungs.  His  introductory  remarks 
this  morning  and  also  his  sermon  were  exceedingly  beautiful  in 
spirit  and  in  manner,  all  based  on  phrenology,^  and  full  of  most 

Phrenology  is  here  used  in  its  older  sense  synonymons  more  nearly 
with  psychology.  Mr.  Mann  was  an  ardent  admirer  and  personal 
friend  of  the  Englishman  George  Combe  who  defined  phrenology  ac- 
ceptably to  Mr.  Mann,  as  "The  philosophy  of  the  human  mind  as 
manifested  through  the  medium  of  the  brain." 


)  I 


118    LIFE  AND  LETTEIIS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

delightful  religious  spirit.  His  people  are  sensible  enough  to 
have  but  one  service  a  day ;  so  we  have  spent  the  afternoon  to- 
gether, in  company,  too,  with  a  college-educated  farmer;  and 
I  find  thtm  full  of  a  love  of  truth,  entirely  emancipated  from 
old  theological  dogmas,  and  sympathizing  hereby  with  all  prog- 
ress. Aside  from  Howe  and  Downer,  1  hardly  know  another 
such  a  lover  of  the  true,  and  yet  so  young.  He  wrote  to  me  a 
long  time  ago  for  liberty  to  publish  an  edition  of  my  *  Thoughts 
for  a  Young  Man,'  for  gratuitous  distribution." 


Incidentally  a  word  as  to  this  address  by  Mr.  Maun. 
It  had  originally  been  delivered  before  the  Boston  Mercan- 
tile Library  Association,  on  its  twenty-ninth  anniversary. 
It  was  a  searching  address,  rich  in  rare  thoughts,  powerful 
in  arrangement,  convincing  in  logic,  appealing  in  its  call 
to  a  nobler  life.  In  a  day  when  the  question  of  the  ac- 
cumulation and  hoarding  of  unnatural  wealth  occupies  so 
important  a  place  in  the  public  mind,  it  is  of  interest  to 
quote  Mr.  Mann  on  the  subject,  more  than  half  a  century 
ago: 

'*  I  wage  no  war  against  wealth.  I  taint  it  with  no  vilifying 
breath.  Wealth,  so  far  as  it  consists  in  comfortable  shelter  and 
food  and  raiment  for  all  mankind  ;  in  competence  for  every 
bodily  want  and  in  abundance  for  every  mental  and  spiritual 
need,  is  so  valuable,  so  precious,  that  if  any  earthly  object 
could  be  worthy  of  iilolatry,  this  might  best  be  the  idol. 
Wealth  as  the  means  of  refinement  and  embellishment,  of 
education  and  culture  is  not  only  universal  in  its  comprehension 
but  elevated  in  its  character  ;  wealth  as  the  means  of  perfecting 
the  arts  and  sciences,  of  discovering  and  diffusing  truth  is  a 
blessing  we  cannot  adequately  appreciate. 

**  But  wealth  as  the  means  of  an  idle  or  voluptuous  life ; 
wealth  as  the  fosterer  of  pride  and  the  petrifier  of  the  human 
heart ;  wealth  as  the  iron  rod  with  which  to  beat  the  poor  into 
submission,  is  all  the  curses  of  Pandora  concentrated  into  one. 
Great  wealth  is  a  misfortune  because  it  makes  gener- 
osity impossible.  There  can  be  no  generosity  where  there  is  no 
sacrifice,  and  a  man  who  is  worth  a  million  dollars,  though  he 
gives  half  of  it  away,  no  more  makes  a  sacrifice  than  (if  I  may 


t  I 


AT  BLOOMING  GROVE 


119 


make  such  a  supposition)  a  dropsical  man  whose  skin  holds  a 
hogshead  of  water  makes  a  sacrifice  when  he  is  tapped  for  a 
barrel.  He  is  in  a  healthier  condition  after  the  operation  than 
before  it.  ...  A  fortune  is  usually  the  greatest  of  mis- 
fortunes to  children.  By  taking  away  the  stimulus  to  effort  and, 
especially,  by  taking  away  the  restraints  of  indulgence,  it  takes 
the  muscles  out  of  the  limbs,  the  brain  out  of  the  head,  the  virtue 
out  of  the  heart.  .  .  .  Vast  fortunes  are  a  misfortune  to 
the  State.  They  confer  irresponsible  power  ;  and  human  nature, 
except  in  the  rarest  instances,  has  proven  incapable  of  wield- 
ing irresponsible  power  without  abuse.  The  feudalism  of  Cap- 
ital is  not  a  whit  less  formidable  than  the  feudalism  of  Force. 
The  millionaire  is  as  dangerous  to  the  welfare  of  the  community 
in  our  day  as  was  the  baronial  lord  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Both 
supply  the  means  of  shelter  and  raiment  on  the  same  condi- 
tions; both  hold  their  retainers  in  service  by  the  same  tenure, 
—their  necessity  for  bread ;  both  use  their  superiority  to  keep 
themselves  superior.  The  power  of  money  is  as  imperial  as  the 
power  of  the  sword  ;  and  I  may  as  well  depend  upon  another  for 
my  head  as  for  my  bread.  The  day  is  sure  to  come  when  man 
will  look  back  upon  the  prerogatives  of  Capital  at  the  present 
time  with  as  severe  and  as  just  a  condemnation  as  we  now  look 
back  upon  the  predatory  chieftains  of  the  Dark  Ages. 

"  But  in  speaking  of  the  criminality  of  hoarding  vast  wealth, 
whether  to  gratify  acquisitiveness  or  to  maintain  family  pride 
regardless  of  the  suffering  it  might  relieve,  the  vice  it  might  re- 
deem, the  ignorance  it  might  instruct,  or  the  positive  happiness 
which  in  a  thousand  ways  it  might  create,  one  grand  exception 
should  be  made :  The  right  or  wrong  of  amassing  property 
depends  upon  the  motive  that  prompts  it.  .  .  .  On  the 
last  day  it  will  be  revealed  whether  the  man  of  vast  wealth,  like 
Stephen  Girard,  has  welcomed  toil,  endured  privation,  borne 
contumely  while  in  his  secret  heart  he  was  nursing  the  mighty 
purpose  of  opening  a  fountain  of  blessing  so  copious  and  ex- 
haustless  that  it  would  flow  on  undiminished  to  the  end  of  time  ; 
or  whether,  like  John  Jacob  Astor,  he  was  hoarding  wealth  for 
the  base  love  of  wealth,  hugging  to  his  breast  in  his  dying  hour 
the  memory  of  his  gold  and  not  of  his  Redeemer ;  gripping  his 
riches  till  the  scythe  of  death  cut  off  his  hands,  and  he  was 
changed,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  from  being  one  of  the 
richest  men  that  ever  lived  in  this  world,  to  being  one  of  the 
poorest  souls  that  ever  went  out  of  it.     .     .     . 


I 


If' 


M  I' 


120    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

«*  Honour  to  a  merchant  is  what  valour  is  to  a  soldier.  But 
compared  with  the  merchant  who  effects  insurance  upon  prop- 
erty already  lost,  or  smuggles  goods,  or  gambles  in  stocks,  the 
beggar  that  binds  a  babe  and  blisters  its  body  into  sores  m 
order  to  excite  the  compassion  and  extort  the  charity  of  the 
benevolent,  is  an  honourable  man.  ...  Is  there  a  young 
man  in  this  city  who  desires  to  be  enumerated  in  the  moral 
census  as  a  rascal  subject  of  that  rascal  kingdom  of  which 
Hudson,  '  the  railway  king,'  is  the  rascal  sovereign?" 

The  names  of  a  good  many  promiuent  men  of  the  day 
were  on  Mr.  Craig's  list  of  lecturers,— Rev.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  and  Horace  Greeley  among  them.  Jast  before 
he  went  to  the  Feltville  pastorate  Mr.  Craig  had  published 
a  pamphlet  on  ^'The  Unity  and  Faith  of  the  Christian 
Church."  It  attracted  the  attention  of  Horace  Greeley, 
then  the  vigorous  and  powerful  editor  of  the  New  York 
Tribune.  Mr.  Greeley  pronounced  it  the  best  production 
he  had  every  seen  on  the  subject  and  ordered  500  copies, 
concerning  the  delivery  of  which  the  young  writer,  in 
indicating  to  the  publisher  his  mailing  list,  said  : 

"  The  other  500  of  the  entire  work,  without  covers,  to  be  sent 
to  D.  Felt's  store,  New  York,  directed  to  Horace  Greeley,  Cor. 
Spruce  and  Nassau  Sts.,  N.  Y." 

No  doubt  IMr.  GreeleyVs  interest  in  the  young  man 
through  his  vigorous  and  efiective  pamphlet  was  one  of  the 
chief  factors  in  inducing  him  to  make  thejourney  from  the 
city  and  to  appear  in  the  Blooming  Grove  course.  The 
uecompanying  autograph  letter  from  Mr.  Greeley  will  be 
of  interest  in  this  connection  :  plainly  it  was  written  in 
the  days  when  the  chirography  of  the  great  editor  had 
not  yet  become  a  matter  of  national  interest. 

In  addition  to  the  lecture  course  a  reading  circle  was 
established  in  the  church.  In  a  letter  to  his  dear  friend, 
Rev.  H.  W.  Bellows,  of  New  York,  Mr.  Craig  speaks 
thus : 


X-2/J 


^ 
^ 


X-^  ./^^^^' 


^^^^  -^^ 


y<l-^  ^^-T^/^yu 


^^-^u? 


<=^ 


■  n- 


l^'i.f^^  -^-^--Oa 


U^-tAW^ 


^ 


,^^  ^  A^^ 


^^^^  r  '^"''^  <=<»^-^ 


/- 


AT  BLOOMING  GROVE 


121 


**  I  foresee  that  the  snow-storm  which  now  drives  upon  us 
from  the  north  will  prevent  the  assembling  of  our  people  at 
church  to-day;  so,  having  leisure,  I  will  write  you,  which  1  have 
several  times  purposed  to  do  since  I  last  heard  from  you.  I 
know  not  whether  the  same  cause  may  prevent  you  from  meet- 
ing your  society  to-day ;  but  I  know  that  you  are  preaching 
now,  stormy  as  it  is.  You  preached  in  this  community  yes- 
terday, too,  to  about  a  dozen  auditors  ;  and  I  think  it  probable 
that  you  will  preach  the  same  sermon  before  our  '  Reading- 
Circle  '  some  of  these  evenings. 

"  You  don't  know  what  our  '  Reading-Circle '  is,  do  you  ? 
Well,  It  is  a  weekly  gathering  of  the  young  people  of  our  com- 
munity, for  the  purpose  of  mental  and  social  improvement. 
Ihe  social  inclinations  of  our  townspeople  are  very  strong;  and 
heretofore  they  have  found  vent  chiefly  at  those  old-fashioned 
gatherings  called  'parties,'  where  heels  were  exercised  more 
than  heads,  and  from  which  the  gray  morning  often  witnessed 
the  return  of  their  exhausted  owners.  Such  meetings  were 
very  frequent  in  this  region  until  the  last  winter,  when  they 
received  a  stunning  blow  from  the  series  of  lectures  which  at- 
tracted so  much  attention  among  us.  This  season  some  of  our 
young  men  and  ladies  formed  themselves  into  a  society  to  meet 
weekly  at  each  other's  homes,  for  reading,  conversation  and 
music.  They  have  met  eight  or  nine  times,  and  the  result  is 
cheering.  New  Year's  Eve  they  assembled  at  the  parsonage, 
in  number  about  one  hundred  and  forty." 

Followiug  this  he  gives  a  clear  account  of  the  pro- 
gramme presented  which  embraced  readings  from  strong 
writers,  discussion,  original  essays,  humorous  poems  and 
the  like.  He  mentions  the  many  lecture  courses  in  the 
towns  of  the  region  and  then  adds  : 

*'  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  rage  for  lectures  ?  The  pulpit 
evidently  does  not  supply  all  the  moral  truth  that  is  craved  by 
society.  The  lectures  interest  me  as  a  means  of  bringing  to- 
gether men  of  various  parties  and  sects  upon  a  common  ground 
of  interest  and  sympathy.  They  are  a  kind  of  secular  Church, 
with  Catholic  grounds  of  admission.  I  think  that  they  will 
react  upon  the  pulpit,  making  its  themes  more  practical  and  its 
manner  more  popular,  though,  I  hope,  not  less  adapted  to  the 


122     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

holy  themes  of  faith.  I  have  seen  ministers  of  different  relig- 
ious sects  gathered  together  to  hear  a  lecturer,— sometimes 
clerical,  sometimes  laic,— discourse  to  them  of  principles  which 
they  would  not  probably  have  trusted  themselves  to  hear  from 
a  pulpit. 

"  What  a  noble  enterprise  is  that  of  Peter  Cooper!  You 
know  him,  I  presume.  I  hear  that  he  is  a  Unitarian,  and  I 
should  think  him  also  a  Christian.  I  am  sure  of  one  thing, 
that  if  a  business  man  desires  to  learn  how  to  buy  the  utmost 
possible  with  his  money,  he  must  take  lessons  of  One  who,  I 
fear,  is  seldom  regarded  as  a  counting-room  authority,  though 
He  has  a  supreme  right  to  be  considered  as  such.  Such  men 
as  Mr.  Cooi)cr,  and  the  late  excellent  Mr.  Lawrence,  are 
gleams  of  sunshine  between  dark  clouds  of  selfishness  that  be- 
girt the  commercial  heavens.  I  wonder  if  there  is  not  in  New 
York,  or  elsewhere,  some  wealthy  steward  of  God  who  would 
devote  of  his  means  to  the  printing  of  a  cheap  select  library  for 
the  poor  and  for  children  ? 

•*  Two  causes  operate  to  prevent  the  common  people  from 
possessing  books  ;  the  first,  books  are  generally  too  dear  ;  the 
second,  they  are  not  generally  accessible.  The  works  of  Dr. 
Channiiig  are  models  of  excellence,  neatness  and  cheapness. 
Suppose,  now,  that  one  hundred  volumes  of  the  same  size  and 
style  should  l>e  put  at  the  price  of  thirty-three  and  one-third 
cents  per  volume,  or  thirty  dollars  per  set,  embracing,  in  fair 
proportion,  the  very  best  works  on  history,  science,  morals, 
etc.,  of  such  as  are  especially  adapted  to  the  improvement  of 
common  readers.  Such  works,  to  name  a  few  without  regard 
to  order,  as  Dymond's  *  Moral  Essays,'  Combe's  'Constitution 
of  Man,'  Butler's  'Analogy,'  Dewey's  'Sermons  on  Human 
Life,'  Guyot's  'Earth  and  Man,'  Nichol's  'Architecture  of  the 
Heavens,'  Mitchel's  'lectures  on  Astronomy,'  Miller's  'Old 
Red  Sandstone,'  Humboldt's  'Cosmos,'  perhaps,— yes !  Mil- 
ler's '  Footprints  of  the  Creator.'  A  few  biographies  like  those 
of  Dr.  Channing,  and  those  of  Mary  Lyon  and  Mary  Ware ;  a 
few  of  the  best  volumes  of  ])oetry  ;  and  if  you  would  add  a 
few  works  of  fiction  of  the  character  of  Frederika  Bremer's,  I 
would  not  object.  I  have  indicated  a  few  as  a  sample.  To 
issue  and  colporteur  sue  h  works  through  the  country  would,  I 
think,  be  a  noble  field  of  use  to  society. 

"  But  chiefly  I  would  delight  to  see  some  one  take  in  hand 
the  publication  of  a  cheap,  neat,  good  library  for  children. 


i 


AT  BLOOMING  GEOVE  123 

'The  Tract  Society  publications,'  so.iie  one  may  say.     Oh  1 
oh!     I  never  dreame.  ,  until  the  care  of  the  lai/bs  of  a  flock 

ed  me  to  seek  out  books  to  put  into  the  hands  of  children,  ho«^ 
few  eally  good  books  there  are,  adapted  to  children  of  from 
e,gh  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  I  l,ave  several  times  applied  o 
gen  lemen  whose  posn.ons  allowed  the  conclusion  thit  they 
coul.  direct  me  ni  my  search  for  suitable  books  for  children 
and  have  mvanably  been  disappointed  in  the  result.  How 
exceedingly  th,n  the  nUellectnal  food  served  up  in  most  of  the 
books  for  chddren  !  I  would  not,  indeed,  forget  that  <  strong 
.neat  be longeth  to  men  of  full  age,  while  ,nM  is  ?or  S 
Yes,  bu  let  ,t  hejur,  nnlk  ;  some  of  it  is  abominably  watered 
Mr.  Abbott's  .Rollo.-  and   -Lucy,'  and  '  Jonas,' and  .Fra„: 

fo?chilSr"m    **■'  ""°"^  "''  ^''  '^^'  '  ''"''=  ^'"^  ^^^^  '°  fi°d 

"  I  know  that  it  must  be  difficult  to  write  books  for  children  • 

more  so  than  to  write  for  men  ;  an.i  those  who  write  would  do 

well    o  remember  that  something  more  is  necessary  in  books 

Tsvtord:"    h'"  'ha'.^-r''""'''  "^  '"^''^  up  of 'short  and 

r  h^lrt-tSs^hrrrZn"  ''^  '^^'  °'  ^  '^'"'^■^  """<* 

•'  Just  now  an  odd  thought  came  into  my  head  :  what  sort  of 

a  book  do  you  tlunk  that  Jesus  would  have  written  for  those 

have  done  it,  I  think  ;  could  have  written  a  book  that  children 

°ured    I'me'f  ""'f\  Y'"  '''''^'''''^  '"  read-those  we  1  nur" 
tured,  I  mean      And  I  am  not  sure  but  the  history  of  His  own 

hfe,  embo,l,ed  in  firesi.le  stories  by  the  lips  of  kin.l  and  w7se 

Ch ns tian  parents,  is  the  best  nourishment  for  infant  uZl 

must  w  ir,r'"  ^^'^  '^'  ^"^  "^'^  '""'^  o"^*^  ■'  '^n^l  -others 
must  wme  them.     Christian  mothers,  possessed  of  well -stored 

es  and   .?  Pf°^"'fn«,  science,  and  life  their  choicest  beau 

noble  hLm^'^^"^  "'^"'  '^  '"/^"'  ':°'"P'-^hension,  in  simple  but 
noble  language,  must  send  them  forth  to  fill  the  void  now  ex- 

rhundreH"nV;r^'"'^  '   ^'"^  ^T^  munificent  soul  must  embo<ly 

them   hrn„  1  .u""  '"  "'^'•^"'^  ^"'■y  ^heap  volumes,  and  diffuse 
them  through  the  community.     How  nicely  it  all  sounds  !  " 

More  and  more  frequent  calls  now  came  to  him  for 
'Anting  on  various  subjects  and  for  editorial  aid  upon 


'i 

'4 

I'    '' 


124    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


various  of  the  church  periodicals.  To  one  editor  who 
was  about  to  establish  a  magazine  he  wrote,  after  speak- 
ing of  a  promised  contribution  in  the  form  of  an  essay  : 

**  I  observe  that  your  projected  magazine  is  quite  freely 
criticised  in  the  Palladium  as  an  unwarranted  and  uncalled  for 
project,  if  1  might  assume  to  express  an  opinion  I  would  rec- 
ommend that  you  pay  no  attention  in  your  enterprise  to  any 
denomination.  Do  not  claim  for  the  magazine  that  it  is 
the  representative  of  'Christians,'  'Unitarians,'  'Protestants,' 
*  Liberalists,'  or  any  class,  but  only  an  organ  through  which 
earnest  individuals  may  utter  their  convictions  and  commend 
the  faith  of  Jesus.  .  .  .  Let  the  brethren  who  have  freely 
criticised  the  new  magazine  in  the  rallailium, — let  them  alone. 
It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  suppose  that  every  word  that  is 
uttered  is  of  sufficient  account  to  be  repeated  and  refuted. 
Five  hundred  years  hence  the  echo  of  these  loud-spoken  words 
will  be  lost  in  the  general  din  of  other  small  sayings  and  the 
universe  will  be  moving  on  in  grandeur  and  glory  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Redeemer." 

Along  more  than  one  line,  as  the  pastorate  progressed, 
this  leader  of  his  people  was  guiding  still  other  men  and 
women  than  those  under  his  immediate  charge  ;  and  so 
it  was  to  be  through  all  the  years,  his  field  ever  steadily 
widening,  ever  bringing  larger  and  larger  numbers  under 
the  rare  intiueuce  of  his  life. 


VIII 

PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE 

THE  leisure  which  came  when  once  he  felt  him- 
self settled  in  his  new  pastorate  found  expres- 
sion in  deeper  sermons,  in  more  extensive  study 
in  many  directions,  in  a  stronger  mental  output  through 
the  press.  The  quiet  of  the  place,  the  absence  of  distract- 
ing turmoil,  the  close  companionship  of  the  best  books 
and  periodicals,  the  sympathy  of  the  earnest  folk  among 
whom  he  laboured,  the  intimate  touch  with  nature  of 
which  he  was  so  passionately  fond,  all  combined  to  lead 
him  outward.  Nor  did  the  leisure  bring  the  indifterence 
and  apathy  a  weaker  man  would  have  shown  ;— to  him  it 
was  an  open  door  to  larger  things. 

Without  in  any  sense  disparaging  the  men  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact  in  the  days  when  he  preached  in  so 
many  different  pulpits,— men  who  were  possessed  of  noble 
and  rugged  characters  and  who  preached  with  all  their 
devoted  hearts  a  Gospel  as  full  and  broad  as  their  limited 
opportunities  permitted, —it  was  yet  true  that,  as  the 
work  at  Blooming  Grove  advanced,  he  came  more  and 
more  in  touch  with  men  who  not  only  appealed  to  him 
by  the  clarity  of  their  views  and  the  breadth  of  their  out- 
look, but  who  exerted  a  strong  influence  upon  him  and 
made  deeper  and  more  satisfying  the  joy  of  service. 

The  letters  he  writes  now  show  more  and  more  disin- 
clination to  discuss  technical  theology,  more  dependence 
upon  the  essentials.  Frequent  letters  came  from  some  of 
the  older  preachers  in  the  Christian  denomination  who 

126 


126    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

feared  he  was  slipping  away  from  their  denoiiiiiiational 
bounds.  Willie  lie  wiis  as  uudeuomiuational  iu  the  better 
sense  as  a  man  well  could  be,  he  still  held  his  relations 
with  the  Christian  Connexion ;  with  them  holding  the 
Bible  far  above  all  creeds.  Answering  a  letter  from  one 
of  his  own  faith  he  says  : 

*'  I  do  not  occupy  much  of  my  time  in  preaching  about  bap- 
tism ;  nor  do  I  wish  to  write  about  it.  God  sent  me  not  to 
baptize,  but  to  preach  the  Gospel.  I  tell  people  to  study  the 
Scriptures  prayerfully,  and  when  they  become  convinced  that 
it  is  their  duty  to  be  immersed  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  to  submit 
readily  and  heartily.  For  my  own  part,  I  wish  to  leave  the 
word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ  and  go  on  unto  perfection,  not 
laying  again  the  foundation  of  repentance  from  dead  works, 
and  of  faith  towards  God,  of  the  doctrine  of  baptism  and  of 
laying  on  of  hands,  etc.,  etc.  I  think  Christian  peoples  have  been 
throwing  water  at  each  other  on  the  shores  of  Jordan  quite  long 
enough.  Let  us  now  go  up,  and  possess  the  spiritual  Canaan. 
There  are  things  more  im|X)rtant,  certainly,  than  the  mode  of 
baptism." 

And  to  another  on  the  same  topic  : 


(f 


I  do  not  feel  as  much  interest  in  the  baptismal  question  as 
many  of  our  brethren  appear  to  possess.  There  are  matters  of 
more  consequence  ;  and  I  would  rather  devote  my  time  to 
them.  I  do  not  think  baptism  of  no  consequence  ;  but  of  less 
consequence  than  many  other  matters  that  I  could  mention." 

While  he  was  anxious  that  there  should  be  no  ill  feel- 
ing towards  him  on  the  part  of  those  of  his  own  ftiith  he 
was  yet  constrained  to  speak  plainly  whenever  an  issue 
was  raised.  Writing  to  a  friend  in  regard  to  his  confer- 
ence address  which  was  now  being  published  in  pamphlet 
form,  he  says : 

"  My  conference  address  will  be  printed  immediately.  I  took 
the  corrected  proofs  to  the  printer  this  morning.  I  will  for- 
ward you  a  copy  shortly.     I  have  very  carefully  revised  it,  and 


THK  liLOOMlNc;  (iKOVE  PARSONAGE 

"Above  the  church  and  considerably  hi^ier  stood  the 
parsonage  My  pen  could  easily  linger  long  in  ihe  de- 
scription of  the  beautiful  and  ever  sublime  scenery  in 
c  ear  vievv  from  the  windows  of  the  white  house  which 
stood  so  high  above  the  surrounding  country  that  more 
han  one  of  the  old  deacons  on  his  farm  far  off  could  see 
the  light  in  his  pastor's  study.'* 


I 


] 


i 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      127 

hope  that  nothing  untrue  injudicious,  or  unkind  may  be  found 
jn  us  pages      I  fee    a  httle  anxiety  about  its  reception  by  our 
brethren;  and  yet  I  cannot  think  that  many  of  them  will  dis- 
sent from  the  position  I  have  taken.     Sectarianism  has  obtain^ 
some  foothold  among  us  ;  but  I  trust  that  it  has  not  yet  leavenS 
our  entire  body.     SecUr.anism  does  not  consist  in  names  and 
forms  but  nispint,  and  the  spirit  of  sectarianism  may  as  ea^Uy 
exist,  I  think,  under  the  name  Christian,  and  with  professions 
of  love  and  freedom,   as  anywhere  and  anyhow  else      VVhenf 
man  ceases  to  be  supremely  concerned  for  the  interests  of  truth 
and  righteousness,  and  feels  more  anxiety  for  the  nrosDerkv 
and  tninnph  of  a  certain  organized  body  with  which  he  sunds 
connected   he  becomes,  I  apprehend,  a  sectarian 

"  We  advocate  principles,  we  have  said.     Very  well     These 
principles  are  not  our  peculiar  possession.     They  belong  bv 
nght  to  every  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ;  and  f  am 
happy  to  know  that  these  principles  find  many  earnest  receiver 
and  able  advocates  outside  our  Connexion.     I  number  amon^ 
my  personal  friends   such,  of  several  denominat"on        FoHn! 
oZVl"  H  '"r''"  °^  'he  German  Reformed  ChurchTan- 
other  a  Swedenborg.an  j  a  third  a  Unitarian.     Now,  I  know 
hese  men  to  be  m  mind  and  spirit  imbued  with  the  Ce  and 
free  principles  of  Christ-free  from  sectarianism  as  myseT  cer 
ainly.     It  makes  no  difference  to  my  feelings  tharthese  men 
are  no    members  of  the  Christian   Connexion      I   have  ^o\d 
l.em  that  I  prefer  they  should  remain  where  they  are      ThS 
x^e'ct"  to'    3  hP'r"°'  'u""""^"  '-'-g-  'h-  they  c^ut^ 

•Tiew  ones      fee  thl'"^  '^'"  ""'T'  ^°"""i°ns,  and  seek 
ig  new  ones.     Let  them  remain  and  eaven  those  with  whom 
their  present  connexion  brings  them  into  sympathy  ^ 

Do  I  prove  false  to  our  principles  by  loving  and  coSner;,t 

afset\r'H  "'"  '     '  "^'""^  "°'      Well,  thfn   do  n  ove 
false  to  my  denomination   by  so  doing  ?     But  I  am  nnf  fh! 

property  of  any  denomination.     I  wish  to  belong  toTheK 

nomination  shlll     ^'''TT'"' '   ^"'  °°  ''^^^er      If  my  de- 

f  I  do  not  resolutely  remain  allegiant  to  the  prSes      Bu^' 

ircum  ,  "°'  'l^*!!'^  '™^^^  "y^^f  fr°'"  «ny  body  Sfth  wSch 
circumstances  had  connected  me ;  and  I  should  JeTm  it  a  dt 


i 


128    LIFE  AXD  LP:TTP:RS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

plorable  alternative  to  be  severed  from  the  body  with  which  I 
have  held  connection,  or  to  become  false  to  my  conscientious 
convictions.  Such  alternative,  I  trust,  will  never  be  presented 
to  any  of  us. 

"  You  say  that  some  of  the  old  scholars  are  becoming  greatly 
alarmed  about  '  the  boys  '  going  over  to  *  Discipleistn.' — You 
name  as  such  Hyatt,  Havens,  Miller,  yourself,  and  myself.  I 
answer  for  myself,  that  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  gone  over 
to  *  Discipleism,'  in  any  other  sense  (if  in  any)  than  that  by 
independent  study  I  may  have  arrived  at  the  same  conclusions 
to  which  the  '  Disciples  '  have  come  on  some  points.  I  give 
myself  no  trouble  to  ask  what  the  Disciples  believe,  any  more 
than  1  trouble  myself  to  learn  what  our  *  Old  Scholars  '  believe. 
As  regards  the  formation  of  my  own  opinions,  it  is  perfectly  in- 
different to  me  what  either  of  them  believe.  We  ought  to  oc- 
cupy a  manly,  independent  position.  We  are  accountable  to 
God,  each  for  himself;  and  should  endeavour  by  faithful, 
earnest  examination  of  His  Word,  to  mould  our  faith. 

**  We  should  use  the  light  that  God  gives  to  us  individually. 
He  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  a  true  man,  who  studies  the 
Scriptures  in  order  to  agree  or  to  disagree  with  any  man  or  as- 
sociation of  men.  If  by  faithful  study  you  have  arrived  at  the 
same  conclusions  as  Alexander  Campbell,  do  not  be  ashamed 
of  them  because  he  advocates  them.  Do  not  let  the  pity  or  the 
opposition  of  any  misguided  persons  swerve  you  from  your 
honest  convictions.  It  were  a  pitiable  weakness  to  be  driven 
by  laughs  or  frowns  from  one's  allegiance  to  one's  own  sense 
of  truth  or  duty. 

*'  If,  on  the  other  hand,  an  honest  examination  of  the  Scrip- 
tures causes  you  to  agree  in  sentiment  with  *  our  Old  Scholars y 
do  not  be  driven  from  your  faith  by  the  efforts  of  any  who  may 
taunt  you  as  being  behind  the  age,  or  the  like.  Be  more 
anxious  to  be  true  to  duty  and  to  God,  than  to  agree  in  senti- 
ment with  anybody,  and  to  gain  the  favour  or  escape  the 
frowns  of  men.  Try  to  learn  God's  truth,  and  to  do  the  duty 
which  He  has  imposed  upon  you  ;  and  then  you  will  be  a  true 
man,  a  faithful  follower  of  Christ ;  and  being  such,  no  matter 
what  may  be  thought  or  said  of  you  by  those  who  do  not  un- 
derstand you,  you  will  neither  be  a  heretic  and  dangerous  man 
on  the  one  hand,  nor  behind  the  age  on  the  other.  Ever  ask  : 
*  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?  ' 

«*Do  you  study  much? — and  what?     Qualify  yourself  as 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      129 

much  as  you  can  for  usefulness  in  your  sphere  :-as  preacher 
to  present  tl,e  doctrines  of  the  Bible  clearly  and  wth  power  ^ 
and  as  pastor,  to  ga,n  the  sympathies  and  esLm  o7  hepelTe' 

sui;;:r\£n:;LTf^is::aX'°"  ™^^  '^  "^^^"'  ^-^  *'•  ^ 

"  Your  Christian  Brother, 

"Austin  Craig." 

One  correspondent  asks  Lim  pointedly  after  the  condi- 
t.on  of  his  own  mental  "  leadings."    In  response  he  says : 

to  answeS  "/an  '"f'T^  °^  "^  "'"'^'  ^  ''^^^ly  know  how 
to  answer  you.     I  am  hopeful  as  regards  the  future  of  our  rare 
an<l  am  constantly  losing  my  interlst  in  party  and  denomina' 

ense  than Te  lu""^''  T'  ""''""  '  cLisStTothe" 
sense  ttian  the  all-comprehensive  one.     I  wish  to  eniov  the 

fellowship  of  the  really  enlarged  and  pure  souls  whereveT/mav 
find  them.  I  am  as  ready  to  meet' such  outside  the' Ch^fs^ 
tian  denomination,  as  in  it  I  am  hann,,  J  l 
those  whose  fellowship  ^r:^^,J.:TJ^:lV^^SZ.:S 
some  ;n  various  denominations-orthodox  and  hereticaf  Whv 
should  I  be  denominational?  Why  should  I  thtnkthaJie 
have  the  greatest  men  and  the  best  principles  of  the  LH 

^  oTt  ctrtiiSenoSti-f  h;~^ 
^:^^t^:^^---^  -  ac-iSet'd ::. 

alJtlmmaieJin'Hrirr  God"  ^-'1°^ -P'"' "ow 
more  to  reclaim  TT'u  °^*'''  ^"'ightened  nations'^is  dlj 

\Vhr!T   ■  ^^^y^^^"t'^l  agencies  are  cont  nuallv  onenin^  to  n< 

from  it^  on  behalf  of  Human^ibeTySBrothKr  '''"^^ 
.  "My  reading  is  now  chiefly  in  the  rnrr^nf  i,t      . 

call,  .h,  K-wic,  p.b.ic.,i'„.;  ^.ri™  "'r.Sf E 


I 


I' 


130    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

four  papers  of  the  'Christians,'  one  of  the  Unitarians;  two  of 
the  Congregational ists; — besides  a  quarterly  of  theirs,  the  New 
En^Iander ;  one  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Freeman' s  Jour- 
nal;  one  of  the  New  Church  (Sweden borgian)  ;  one  of  the 
Disciples;  ih^  Tribune ;  Dickens'  Household  Words  (2iX\^x\g- 
lish  Weekly) ;  'iWVimdin's  four nai  of  Science  and  Arts  ;  to  which 
I  purpose  to  add,  when  next  I  go  to  New  York,  the  four  lead- 
ing British  and  Scotch  Quarterly  Reviews.*  A  friendly  corre- 
spondent has  engaged  to  keep  me  posted  up  on  the  contents  of 
the  home  Orthodox  quarterly  publications.  I  am  persuaded 
that  whoever  has  access  to  one  side  of  a  matter  only,  will  cul- 
tivate a  lopsidedness  of  mind — will,  indeed,  lose  his  mental 
freedom  insensibly.  I  wish  to  keep  my  mind  free  from  being 
unduly  influenced  by  any  class  of  partisans;  and,  therefore, 
open  my  ears  to  the  stories  of  all.  1  would  rather  resemble  a 
tree  that  grows  in  an  open  s[)ace,  throwing  out  limbs  towards 
every  quarter,  than  to  be  like  those  which  grow  upon  the 
wood's  edge— developed  outwardly  in  only  one  direction." 

To  his  friend  Robert  J.  Wright,  of  Philadelphia,  he 
wrote  aloug  a  different  line  : 

"  My  brightest  view  of  life  is  that  in  which  I  regard  myself 
devoted  to  Christian  usefulness,  and  possessing  the  sympathies 
of  a  circle  of  God-fearing  and  man-loving  brethren  : — in  this 
circle,  you  have  always  seemed  nearest  and  dearest  to  me. 
And  I  have  watched  with  interest  the  progress  of  your  mind  in 
the  discovery  of  those  great  and  holy  truths  which  have  given 
new  ties  to  our  souls,  and,  I  hope,  brought  us  into  closer  alli- 
ance with  Christ.  I  have  wished  and  hoped,  that  in  the  good 
])rovidence  of  God,  we  might  hereafter  be  called  to  labour 
together  in  the  gospel  field,  with  the  pen,  or  in  the  pulpit, 
and  then  to  enjoy  the  happiness  of  being  *  workers  together 

*  A  year  later  his  list  of  periodicals  included  the  following  addi- 
tional pnhlications : 

London  Quarterly  Review,  Edinburgh  ReiHew^  North  British  Renew, 
Went  minuter  Review,  Blackwood's  Magazine,  American  Polytechnic  Jour- 
nal, Seientijie  American,  Whig  Press,  Phrenological  Journal,  Wilson'' s 
Book  Trade,  Literary  Gazette.  Mirror  of  Temperance^  The  Age^  Sunday- 
School  Advocate^  The  Circular. 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      131 

,tarS°ou'r'?ace':  ^^^""^P"^'™-"  ^^  His  benevolent  designs 
•<  My  clearest  conceptions  of  heaven  are  those  which  rerrarH 
>t  as  an  ever-enlarg,ng  conduion  of  exalted  activity  and  use<\ji 
ness,  forever  bindn,g  the  pure  souls  more  firm  y  o  U^ir  Gret 
father,  and  forever  producing  and  Deroetrntin^fh^  k       V 
of  friendship  and  kindred  among  ?hemsS^   ?1n     "!•'? 
that  Christian  friendships  shall  surWve  "he   hock  oV2   k  ""."'' 
love  to  Christ  kindles  the  fires  of  errL,   if^tlhe  J^'of  i^s 
possessor;  and  that  heaven  is  the  union,  and  tl  e  e„d!es   nu 

'  V  it  "if  {::'^'r"'°'  ^" «'-'  -^^'hoiy  soL    '  p""- 

from  uniting  our  hearts  and    abj;  t^Ltfn  "°k'fe"""  "^ 

yearning   towards   us  in  the  Chrkttn'i  h        ^*  T? ''^^"^ 
faiher  piiieth  his  children  ^o  Vh-T/  ^°T     ^'^^  ^'  » 
Hin..    W  He  kuo.Jho.T^^^^^ 
are  dust. '     Our  '  elder  brother  ■^^'  •        ■^^"i,^"i'>^«th  that  we 

tion;    commiserat^g  ou^°iff;ri^s^''^  "t"'"'  ^«'^'=- 

us:  'for  we  have  not  an  Hhfh  p    \     u    '^"'P^hizmg  with 

with  the  feeling  of  our  infirn^fj!  ^k'"  ""^^  '^""°'  ^'  '""'^hed 
like  as  we  aref  yet  w  thou  n  '  I  ,  ''"V"  f  P°'"'^  '^"'P'^ 
unto  the  throne^o  g  ace  th  ^we  mlv" U^""^"''"  '""''  "^"^'y 
grace  to  help  in  time  of  n;ed  ■  "         ^    *"*'"  "^"^y-  ^"'^  fi»d 

"  I  am  afraid  I  shall  be  of  little  service  to  von  "  I,.  .    :     ■ 
a  letter  which  serves  to  indicafP  .hi  ^- j  '.    "^  ^""^^  '" 

his  volun,inous  corresDondenre    «        "^^".y-sided  character  of 

I^gos  of  Saint    oLTptT-ShTllTcrfLIt'^^^  " 

reft  of  Srdenborg"„re  e°xp"  ^n  Tf.  '^  ^'"'"^  ^'  "^«= 
apparently,  a  shade  too  metaph^s^ar  Such  n?"','"°"r^'''  ^"'• 

S'S  Z-lXdf^  '  a^lrSisSS 
-e,  and  n>oreTcred"S  c^u'm°e„"rrrntS.^^  "'  '"'^• 

eveu"  fn'mit  If,  *''  ''"""••  *^^*  '''^'  ^o  his  hand 
Tht  Zl  ?    "•'  '*"'^*  """"^"-y  P''»<^«-  he  never  lost 

eight  of  an  opportunity  to  render  service  to  others.    Now 


ft 


ifii 


132    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

it  was  some  secular  matter  connected  with  the  parish ; 
now  it  was  a  carefully  written  and  beautifully  composed 
letter  prepared  with  his  own  hand  for  some  old  man  or 
woman,  too  old,  or  too  illiterate*,  to  be  able  to  write  for 
themselves,  conveying  messages  of  love  and  humble  items 
of  news  to  friends  or  relatives  ;  now  it  was  some  outside 
service  which  would  naturally  fall  to  the  hands  of  some 
one  not  so  burdened  with  cares.  His  deep  thoughtful- 
ness  of  others  and  his  desire  to  help  them  come  out  in  a 
letter  to  his  long-time  friend,  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Lawshe, 
then  of  Quakertown,  New  Jersey,  to  whom  he  wrote 
from  Blooming  Grove  in  October,  1852  : 

*'  I  feel  at  present  that  I  should  be  willing,— in  case  I  should 
survive  you,  and  possess  strength  to  labour, — to  undertake  the 
revision  and  preparation  of  such  manuscripts  as  you  may  leave 
for  the  press.  Their  being  written  in  the  phonetic  character 
would  not  seriously  embarrass  me ;  I  could  soon  master  that,  so 
far  as  to  decipher  your  writings. 

**I  am  glad  that  you  have  felt  free  to  respond  so,  in  this 
matter.  Fearing  that  you  might  pass  from  us,  in  consequence 
of  your  present  illness,  1  felt  an  earnest  desire  that  your  manu- 
scripts might  be  so  left  that  a  volume  of  selections  should  see 
the  light.  They  would  be  useful  to  our  '  Christian  '  brethren, 
and  would  also,  I  believe,  interest  and  benefit  the  young  peo- 
ple into  whose  hands  they  might  fall." 

The  reputation  of  the  pastor  of  the  Blooming  Grove 
church  was  not  confined  to  his  own  immediate  vicinity, 
or  denomination,  as  shown  by  many  varying  letters  of 
which  the  following  is  a  type  : 

"To  Rev.  Austin  Craig: 

'*  The  undersigned  members  of  the  Legislature  of  New 
Jersey,  and  citizens  of  this  State,  having  learned  that  you  had 
prepared  a  lecture  upon  *  The  Mission  of  the  United  States  and 
the  Responsibilities  Imposed  upon  the  People,'  respectfully  re- 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      133 

quest  that  you  will  consent  to  deliver  the  same  in  one  of  the 
public  halls  in  this  city  on  Thursday  evening  of  the  present 

Trenton,  February  17,  1852. 


Thomas  Miles, 
Benj.  C.  Tatem, 
John  D.  Jackson, 
John  Hughes, 
John  B.  Clark, 
J.  W.  Hancol. 
James  Applegate, 
Joseph  O.  Johnson, 
D.  Graves, 


John  Manners, 
W.  C.  Alexander, 
J.  A.  Blucher, 
Arthur  Gifford, 
E.  C.  Rogers, 
Thos.  A.  Allison, 
John  C.  Beardsley, 
Josephus  Shann, 
E.  J.  Dougherty, 
J.  A.  Boyle. 


It  was  in  public  addresses  such  as  the  above  that  he 
came  into  touch  with  men  who  were  not  so  deeply  inter- 
ested in  religious  or  moral  endeavour  as  those  among 
whom  he  worked  from  day  to  day,  and  every  such  addi^ess 
not  only  gave  him  a  more  intimate  relation  with  the  out- 
side  world  and  kept  him  from  becoming  one-sided,  but 
had  a  marked  influence  upon  such  of  the  people  as  did  not 
hear  him  in  his  pulpit. 

In  addition  to  the  many  demands  made  upon  him, —an 
extensive  correspondence,  calls  for  preaching  in  other 
pulpits  on   notable  occasions,   writing  steadily  for  the 
r^'ligious  newspapers  of  the  day,    the  thoughtful  and 
('arnest  carrying  out  of  his  own  pastoral  duties,  the  con- 
stant  study  of  contemporary  ecclesiastical  movements, 
with  the  searching  out  of  obscure  passages  of  the  Greek 
and  Hebrew  Scriptures  of  the  Bible,-in  addition  to  all 
these  serious  demands  he  was  constantly  harassed  by 
poor  health.     A  frail  boy  when  at  college,  he  did  not 
develop  the  physical  strength  he  should  have  had  in  later 
years,  but  while  never  an  invalid,  and  capable  of  per- 
lorming  prodigious  amounts  of  mental  work,  he  was  yet 


I'l 


•:_  '_» 


134    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


kept  constantly  on  his  guard.  In  a  quaint  letter  to 
Horace  Mann  written  from  his  study  iu  the  Blooming 
Grove  parsonage  on  May  7,  1854,  he  says : 

**  I  pen  you  this  line  merely  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter,  and  of  the  accompanying  *  Inaugural ' ;  to  express 
my  hearty  thanks  therefor  ;  and  to  say  that  some  time  by  and 
by,  I  mean  to  write  you  a  huge  letter.  I  am  very  much  en- 
gaged now-abouts — arboriculturally  and  horticulturally ; — partly 
to  gratify  my  taste,  but  chiefly  to  recover  somewhat  in  my 
outer-man  of  the  lost  Eden.  I  am  treating  dyspepsia  minerally 
and  botanically — mixed  practice.  I  take  the  former  by 
shovelfuls  and  wheelbarrow-loads — (stones,  clay  and  chip- 
muck) ;  the  latter,  I  take  by  the  armful.  I  took  last  week  9 
peach  trees,  7  apple  trees,  6  pear  trees,  i  apricot  tree,  i  chest- 
nut, etc.,  carrying  them  from  the  nursery  (3  to  4  miles  distant 
hence)  on  my  shoulder.  I  like  this  botanic  (or  rather  den- 
dronic)  treatment  of  Dyspepsia. 

"  Besides,  as  soon  as  I  get  my  grounds  ready,  I  mean  to  take 
between  50  and  60  kinds  of  flowers.  I  hope  the  virtues  of 
them  will  strike-in.  I  think  hoe-handles  good  conductors  of 
medicinal  virtues  from  flower-plants  into  weak  nerves. 

"  Your  Inaugural  (permit  a  friend  to  say  it)  is  magnificent. 
Those  Titanic  periods, — huge,  gorgeous,  harmonious,  refreshed 
me.  I  had  been  9  hours  working  hard,  the  day  your 
Inaugural  came  to  hand  (working  with  my  shovel  and  wheel- 
barrow). At  sunset  I  walked  to  the  Post  Office  and  back  (4  to 
5  miles)  home  by  9  o'clock.  Then  I  devoured  the  Inaugural. 
Midnight,  I  think,  found  me  yet  wakeful.  I  should  have  been 
sleepy-headed  hours  before,  I  suppose,  but  for  the  *  Inaugural.' 
It  fairly  treads  the  truth  into  the  Reader.  I  fancied  a  com- 
parison of  the  Style  of  it.  At  least,  it  reminded  me  of  what  I 
had  read  and  imagined  of  an  oriental  caravan  of  white  elephants, 
with  housings  of  glittering  gems  and  gold,  with  musical  har- 
monies, and  sacred  banners  flying,  nearing  the  Holy  City  with 
worshippers  and  offerings. 

"  I  cannot  attend  the  Louisville  meeting  ;  but  next  October 
(if  God  spare  me)  I  mean  to  attend  the  Christian  General  Con- 
vention in  Cincinnati,  and  on  the  way,  or  returning,  hope  to 
visit  you — and  '  preach  in  your  chapel '  too,  perhaps.  If  you 
come  this  way  this  season,  pray,  visit  me,  spend  a  Sunday  here, 
and  preach  to  your  friends  in  Blooming  Grove." 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      135 

One  ph^  of  the  preacher's  life  of  that  day-and  bear 
in  mind  this  ^as  no  ordinary  preacher  but  one  who,  to- 
day, would  be  sought  far  and  wide, -is  well  illustrat^  in 
an  extrax^t  from  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Craig  to  Mr.  Mann 
lu  18i)4  from  Blooming  Grove. 

"  My  congregation  number  about  1.0-120  families  scattered 
over  a  d.stnct  some  sixer  seven  miles  in  length  and  bread'? 
ami  they  wish  the  mm.ster  to  visit  them  frequently,  and  totl;> 
theni  when  he  comes.     And,  my  dear  Sir,  I  tell  you  thata  v  s  f 
m    l>e  Bloommg  Grove  sense  is  oftentmies  a  formidable  affa 
Unless  you   eat  with  them  it  is  only  a  'call.'     And  Ike  mo'; 
other  communittes.  as  I  suppose,  they  think  nottog  t^  3 
for    he  minister,  and  really  injure  him  with  the  excefs^dTn 
wholesome  richness  of  their  preparation.     I  have  •  blown  out  ' 
at  them  m  private  and   in  the  pulpit,  often   for  their  t.hll 
snaring;  and  I  suppose  they  think  U 'some  queernes    of  the 
minister  and  so  pass  it  by."  qucerness  oi  the 

Mr^  Mlnu":'''"^  '^'''^*'  ^  ^^'^  ^'"''"^  ""^  ^^'^  P«"od  to 
"  My  Dear  Friend  : 

ii>c  yuuug  laaies  oi  our  communitv      Thrf^t- r,(  fV.^»^ 
Si  sir  ''  '^T  ^''-"■y  s'pea  J  o;<  A°it    cT-Tnd 

stitmS   Xe  of'^^hesl  sa  d  to  -^'^'"6 '-'-^f-  -t  your  in' 
lisin    thai   ch„  ■       '°  ™^  '"  ^^^  applicat  on  for  bap- 

the  setting  we  gathered  together  upon  the  banks  of  a  sS 
What  a  dreamlike,  changeful  life  it  all  is  I     Everything 


136    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

seems  at  times  emulous  of  Chaos.  St.  Augustine,  amid  the 
wreck  of  the  old  Roman  civilization,  turned  his  eye  steadily  to 
the  *  City  of  God  '  :  Happy  the  thought  that  Sects,  and 
nations  and  empires  and  Democracies  may  rush  to  ruin ;  but 
the  Church  of  Christ,  built  on  the  rock  of  ages,  shall  survive 
and  triumph. 

"  1  suggest  as  a  quieter  of  these  feverish  times,  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  and  of  Church  History." 


In  the  following  fanciful  letter  he  took  occasion  by  per- 
son ilication  to  show  how  Mr.  Mann  might  well  extend 
his  writing : 

*' Blooming  Grove,  N,  K,  August  2 ,  1853. 
**  Hon.  Horace  Mann. 

**My  Dear  Sir: 

**  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness 
to  you  for  a  copy  of  another  of  your  valuable  publications — 
'The  Powers  and  Duties  of  Woman '—which  reached  me 
yesterday  by  Mail.  As  you  have  allowed  your  friends  to  per- 
suade you  '  to  send  forth  a  Sister  to  keep  that  Brother  com- 
pany,' I  wish  you  would  permit  me  to  tell  you  that  to  my  cer- 
tam  (?)  knowledge  there  are  three  in  the  family;  besides  the 
adult  brother  and  sister,  there  is  the  Young  Master,  who  hav- 
ing just  signalized  his  entrance  upon  his  second  decade,  by 
donning  his  first  frock-coat,  is  trying  (rather  awkwardly,  to  be 
sure)  to  enact  the  Man,  and  naturally  enough  feels  slighted 
that  such  nice  books  have  been  written  to  his  older  brother  and 
sister,  and  no  notice  taken  of  him,  while  he,  when  he  has  his 
new  black-hat  on,  is  ahnost  as  big  as  they. 

'*  Our  Young  Master,  1  think,  would  give  almost  anything 
(except  his  new  frock-coat,  aforesaid)  to  have  '  the  Congress- 
man '  notice  him  in  the  handsome  manner  that  he  noticed  his 
brother  and  sister. — Between  us,  I  must  tell  you  that  Young 
Master  has  somehow  gotten  the  notion  that  the  highest  earthly 
happiness  of  a  man,  next  to  being  the  President,  is  to  go  to 
Congress.  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  him  last  fire-cracker- 
day  as  he  was  letting  off  his  first  Fourth-of-July  oration  to  a 
parcel  of  his  playmates.  He  had  a  three-cornered  newspaper- 
hat  on  his  head,  and  pieces  of  yellow-cloth  pinned  on  his 
shoulders ;  and  he  talked  away  quite  surprisingly  about  *  lick- 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      137 

ing  the  British  and  the  Mexicans,'  and  about  this  being  'the 
greatest  country  that  ever  was  ' ;  and,  O  !  how  the  little  fel 
o»s  hurrah-ed  at  that.  I  wanted  to  tell  them  all  how  George 
WashMigton,  when  he  was  only  a  lad,  felt  his  ambition  excited 
-not  to  become  a  Congress-man  or  a  General,  but  a  noble 
good  man;  and  how  he  drew  up  a  number  of  rules  and  gov- 
erned himself  by  them,  until  he  became  the  noble  man  thai  he 
was^     But  they  were  not  just  then  inclined  to  hear  ha    and 

now.    but   If  the    'Congress-man-    would   say  something  to 
them    I  feel  sure  that  a  great  many  of  them  would  listen  to^it 

Young  Master  is  very  General-Jackson-ish  ;  loves  to  hive 
his  own  way,  and  doesn't  sufficiently  regard  his  mother;  though 
he  seems  a  good  boy  at  heart,  and  sometimes  shows  himsflf 
possesse.  of  generous  and  noble  traits.  I  wish,  Mr.  Mm« 
you  would  say  something  to  him  to  induce  him  to  leave  Tff  hi^ 
careless  and  rowdyish  airs,  and  to  cultivate  those  gentle  and 

:"h;"'birinfll''  '.'  --'"-s  displays.  I  a^,  S  th"at 
he  has  been  influenced  by  some  bad  boys  at  school  You 
have  had  so  much  acquaintance  with  the  schools  Aat  vou 
know  all  the  evil  influences  to  which  the  young  ma  ^s  a  e  ex 
posed  there,  and  why  not  tell  them  ?  Tell  a//  Teufhem 
how  Health  is  ruined  by  Carelessness  at  school-Tnd  tow 
vice  IS  earned  Tell  them  what  books  to  read;  and  man v 
other  things  which  they  need  to  know,  and  will  listen'oTor^ 
)ou._.\nd  I  wish  you  would  tell  the  ministers  that  thev  ougb^ 

But  now  Mr.  Mann,  I  mtended  to  have  written  onlv  thrPP 
or  four  ines  in  this  half-frivolous  manner,  and  I  have   ins  ead 
quite  filled  my  sheet  with  what  I  feel  tobescarceSvanlace 
■n  a  letter  to  any  dignified  and  well-deserving  prrson      I  be^ 
you  excuse  me  this  folly.     Were  there  less  of  it,TZht  olead 

n.l  ,  ■  ■    ^^  ""^  ™^«"  stands,  however,  I  throw  mvself 

upon  your  leniency,  and  subscribe  myself,  ^ 

"Respectfully  and  truly,'  yours, 

"Austin  Craig." 

The  years  passed  and  the  calls  to  still  wider  service 
were  heard.     lu  succeeding  chapters  the  relations  of  Mr 
t^raig  to  Antioch  College  both  as  teacher  and  president 


Mil 


138     LIP^E  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


will  be  taken  up.  It  is  sufllcieiit  chronologically  here  to 
8iiy  that  at  the  end  of  six  years  of  service  at  Blooming 
Grove,  six  years  of  as  devoted  service  as  ever  man  gave 
to  men  and  whicli  knitted  him  into  the  very  hearts  of  his 
people,  the  cliurch  gave  him  leave  of  absence  for  the 
closing  months  of  the  year  1855  to  go  to  Antioch  College 
at  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio,  which  liad  come  under  the 
presidency  of  his  friend,  Horace  Mann,  to  teach  tempo- 
rarily the  classes  of  the  piofessor  of  Greek  then  away 
from  his  j)ost  on  leave  of  absence.  A  second  leave  of  ab- 
sence was  given  the  piustor  a  year  later  when  he  went 
South,  preaching  for  a  few  months  in  the  city  of  New 
Oi'leans. 

In  September,  1857,  lie  resigned  liis  pastorate  at  Bloom- 
ing Grove  and  went  again  to  Antioch  as  preacher  to  the 
college  and  professor  of  logic  and  rhetoric. 

Just  a  year  later  the  church  at  Blooming  Grove,  una- 
ble to  get  along  as  they  knew  they  ought  to  get  along 
without  their  piustor,  sent  another  call  to  him  to  come  and 
once  more  minister  to  them,  in  the  following  words  : 

''Blooming  Grove,  April  12,  i8§8. 
**  Dear  Brother  Austin  : 

**  In  obedience  to  the  wishes  of  the  congregation,  in  pub- 
He  assembly  expressed,  I  am  once  more  found  in  the  responsible 
position  of  spokesman,  or,  if  you  please,  committee. 

"  The  honourable — the  Trustees  of  the  Blooming  Grove  Con- 
gregation gave  notice  last  Sunday  for  a  meeting  in  which  the 
purpose  of  giving  you  a  re-call  was  to  be  considered. 

"  The  meeting  was  held  to-day,  at  3  o'clock  P.  m.,  and  after 
the  usual  preliminaries  and  deliberations,  it  was  decided  that 
an  unanimous  call  be  forwarded  to  our  former  pastor  to  come 
and  resume  his  labours  among  us ;  2d,  that  hereafter,  whoso- 
ever should  be  our  pastor,  he  should  receive  an  addition  to  his 
salary  of  two  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  above  the  amount 
heretofore  paid  by  us. 

*'  And  that  H.  F.  Moffat,  Daniel  Goldsmith  and  Alden  Gold- 
smith be  the  committee  who  should  communicate  the  result  of 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      139 

these  proceedings  to  Mr.  Craig  and  request  a  reply  at  his  earli- 
est convenience. 

**  May  the  Master  of  Assemblies  guide  you  by  His  wisdom  to 
such  decision  as  shall  be  for  the  glory  of  His  name. 

**  Yours  in  Christian  bonds, 

"H.  F.  Moffat, 

'*  Daniel  Goldsmith, 

**  Alden  Goldsmith." 

The  call  was  accepted  and  the  interrupted  relations 
with  the  Blooming  Grove  church  were  once  more  resumed 
to  be  continued  without  break  for  the  next  seven  years. 

Writing  to  a  friend.  Dr.  Craig  expressed  his  apprecia- 
tion of  the  people  among  whom  he  laboured,  as  he  did  on 
many  other  occasions : 

*'  I  have  your  kind  letter  of  the  9th  instant,"  he  says,  *'  and 
have  read  m  a  column  of  last  week's  Gospel  Herald  the  kind 
things  you  say  of  me  in  your  Blooming  Grove  letter  Let  me 
confess  to  you  that  I  find  a  little  drawback  from  completeness 
of  satisfaction  with  your  letter  and  article,  in  the  feeling  that 
you  are  evidently  thinking  of  and  describing  a  wiser,  better 
more  faithful  man,  than  I  know  myself  to  be.  What  you  say 
of  Blooming  Grove,  however,  and  of  the  Blooming  Grove  peo- 
ple, would  stand  the  test.     A  noble  people,  indeed  ! 

*'  That  good  Deacon  Howell  was  a  true  yoke-fellow  Rain 
or  shine,  he  came  to  church— to  the  Sunday-school— to  our  lit- 
tle prayer-meeting,  and  always  so  full  of  faith  and  love  '  His 
prayers  and  testimonies  did  help  and  strengthen  me  many 
times  He  is  '  a  hereditary  Christian.'  His  father  was  dea- 
con of  the  church  for  fifty-two  years." 

In  1856  a  very  urgent  call  had  been  sept  to  Mr.  Craig 
to  become  the  pastor  of  the  Christian  Church  at  Yellow 
Springs,  the  seat  of  Antioch  College,  matters  in  the 
c*hurch  being  in  a  much  disturbed  condition.  It  was  be- 
lieved  that  he  was  the  man  of  all  others  to  put  the  church 
upon  its  feet  and  to  harmonize  the  discordant  elements. 
He  called  a  meeting  of  the  Blooming  Grove  church,  set 


if 


140    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLX  C'RAIG 

the  whole  matter  before  them,  proposed  that  he  go  to  the 
Yellow  Spriugs  church  for  ten  months,  if  it  was  the  will 
of  his  own  Hock,  but  they  voted  as  their  decision  *'a 
unanimous  and  emphatic  uegative.^^ 

And  now  a  new  Aictor,  if  so  sweet  and  dear  an  element 
may  be  given  so  prosaic  a  term,  had  entered  into  his  life 
Indeed  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  a  part  of  his  life,  for 
a  long  time,  a  very  fair  and  beautiful  part.     The  tall 
young  minister  had  seldom  surrendered,  but  now  to  a 
fair  young  enemy  he  made  complete  capitulation  and  Miss 
Mary  Adelaide  Churchill  became  his  wife.     It  was  a  pe- 
culiarly happy  union,  for  tlie  wife  brought  to  the  husband 
the  influences  which  served  to  broaden  and  strengthen 
his  life,  to  lit  him  still  more  fully  for  the  part  he  was  to 
play.     8he  was  a  young  woman  of  rare  intellectual  life 
with  a  fine  strong  mind  united  to  the  most  delicate  femi- 
nine nature.     She  was  of  that  rare  type  of  woman  who 
embodied  all  that  was  noblest  and  best  in  the  intellectual 
side  as  well  as  all  those  fine  and  womanly  traits  which 
make  the  ideal  home. 

The  following  characteristic  letter,  or  excerpt  from  a 
letter,  gives  a  glimpse  into  the  new  life  which  came  to 
the  young  minister : 


..x^  Af  ''Blooming  Grove,  N.  K,  Sept.  23,  1858. 

"  To  Mr.  AND  Mrs.  Mann.  ^     ^ 

*'Dear  Friends: 

*'  It  is  little,  as  news,  that  I  have  to  write  you  :  for  our 
outward  conditions  are  as  yet  unsettled.  We^Adelaide  and 
myself,--vvere  counting  upon  a  quiet  sort  of  time  here  until 
next   spring,   as  members  of  the  family  of  that  Mr.   Moffat 

wes"! JrH  'r^'''''.  house  some  months  ago  on  his  journey 
westward.     He  returned  home,  two  or  three  weeks  since,  to 

Rlk^o^r^rii''^'^^^^    ^""n  '^'  /^^"^^^^'^^^  ^^"^oval  of  his  famil^  to 

fnd  tt  ^rrln"""*'-  .^T  P^""''  '^^''^'''^^  ^''  ^"  '^  ^e  recast ; 
fnc  tu-  l''^"g^"^^"ts  for  our  own  household  and  housekeep- 
ing, which  we  anticipated  making  at  our  leisure  during  the 


ADELAIDE  CHURCHILL  CRAIG 
WIFE  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


i^ 


'I 


Jl 


I 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      141 

winter,  we  must  proceed  to  make  at  once.     Meanwhile  we  are 
encamped  in  the  parsonage,  with  characteristics  of  housekeep- 
ing  more  nearly  allied  to  the  nomadic,  than  to  the  settled,  life 
'*l  am  assummg— you  perceive— that  you  know  the  fact  of 
our  marriage.     Except  to  a  few  of  our  immediate  kindred   no 
notice  of  our  marriage  has  been  given  to  any  one  except  its 
publication    in    the   New   York    City   newspapers. —In   case 
however,  that  you  do  not  know  the  fact,  or  know  it  insuf- 
ficiently (as  a  certain  student  is  said  to  have  given  as  an  excuse 
for  non-attendance  at  chapel,  that  he  did  not  hear  the  bell  dis- 
tinctly,)—therefore,  be   it   hereby  known    unto  you  that  we 
Austin  Craig  and  Adelaide  Churchill,  were  united  in  marriage* 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  at  Schuylers 
Lake  Augu^  i2th,  1858.-N.  B.     The  initials  on  the  spoons 
are  A.  L.     The  more  exact  formula  might  have  been  A^  C." 

Miss  Churchill  was  born  in  Richfield,  Otsego  County 
New  York,  December  15,  1828.     She  attended  school  a^ 
a  child  near  her  home ;  afterwards  was  a  student  in  the 
Female  Seminary  in  Utica,  New  York,  and,  still  later  in 
the    Clinton   Liberal   Institute  at  Clinton,    New  York 
Here  she  was  graduated  and  became  a  teacher  for  several 
terms  in  the  institute.     She  entered  Antioch  College  for 
a  broader  training,  and  there  met  Austin  Craig  during 
the  time  he  was  professor  of  rhetoric  and  logic      She 
was  graduated  from  Antioch,  in  1858,  in  June,  and  the 
marriage  took  place  in  August  following.     She  was  grad- 
uated with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  in  the  second 
class  to  go  out  from  that  institution.     Later  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  her  by  Antioch   mak- 
111;,^  her  one  of  the  first  women  in  the  United  States  to  be 
honoured  with  this  degree. 

During  the  year  1858,  when  the  cares  of  the  pulpit  had 
been  exchanged   for  the  cares  of  a  college  chair,   Mr 
traig  kept  a  diary  or  as  he  called  it  '^a  journal,^'  in 
winch  he  jotted  down  in  his  remarkably  clear  peuman- 
sliip  the  events  of  each  day  of  that  year  passed  at  Antioch 
J^very  essential  detail  of  a  life  of  great  activity  is  included 


»i 


142    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


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in  this  diary  and  all  placed  in  the  most  compact  and  con- 
densed form.  Frequently  through  the  diary  are  notes  of 
ill  health.  The  labour  in  the  college  was  very  exactiug 
and  there  were  so  very  many  demands  upon  him  for 
public  addresses  that  his  strength  was  tried  to  the  utmost. 
He  found  relief  in  long  walks  in  the  country,  and  very 
many  notations  which  show  that  he  walked  ^^to  the 
Glen"  with  **  A.  C."  and  others,  or  spent  the  evening  in 
the  Ladies'  Hall  in  company  with  ^'A.  C."  abound  in 
the  journal.  Once  he  speaks  briefly  of  lx?ing  with  Miss 
Churchill  in  the  parlour  considering  ^*  Logic,  etc." 

The  following  from  one  who  was  a  student  under  Miss 
Churchill  while  the  latter  was  an  instructor  in  the  Clinton 
Liberal  Institute  at  Clinton,  New  York,  may  be  taken  as 
an  illustratiou  of  the  universal  esteem  in  which  she  was 
held  by  those  who  came  under  her  painstaking  and 
thoughtful  care : 

**  During  my  school  days  at  Clinton  Liberal  Institute,  I  was 
most  fortunate  in  having  for  my  instructor  in  literature,  Miss 
Adelaide  Churchill.  I  say  fortunate — for  she  was  such  an  en- 
thusiast herself  regarding  the  best  in  books,  she  inspired  those 
under  her  charge  with  an  earnest  desire  to  read  and  possess  the 
wealth  of  knowledge  in  them. 

*'  To  this  day  I  feel  the  influence  of  this  gifted  woman  about 
me,  and  when  I  find  myself  wasting  time  on  a  poor  book,  1  re- 
member her  once  saying  to  me :  '  Do  not  encumber  your 
mind  with  trash, — how  much  better  to  possess  one  sentence 
from  an  immortal  author.* 

**  Personally  she  was  very  sweet  and  gentle,  and  treated  us 
with  consideration.  If  occasion  arose  for  reprimand — a  rosy 
flush  suff'used  her  face,  showing  how  difficult  for  her  to  repress 
our  girlish  exuberance. 

"  Most  assuredly  I  ow^  her  beloved  memory  most  grateful 
appreciation  and  recognition." 

As  a  girl  she  had  shown  a  distinct  talent  for  writing. 
In  her  letters  written  home  from  school  this  constantly 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      143 

appears  in  a  fine  discrimination  in  the  choice  of  words, 
in  clearness  of  thought  and  in  vivacity  of  expression. 
(Quaint  bits  come  out  in  the  letters  recounting  the  daily 
events  of  her  seminary  life,  as  this : 

"  Ah'  the  little  rogue  of  a  kitten  !  He  is  walking  over  my 
shoulders  and  head  and  cutting  up  all  sorts  of  kittenish  pranks 
It  is  not  my  kitten,  only  a  borrowed  one;  it  is  Mrs.  Rockwell's 
pet  I  saw  It  running  about  in  the  hall  just  now  and  so  took 
It  for  a  few  moments;  but  as  the  little  plague  is  too  trouble- 
some with  his  unmannerly  pranks— he  has  no  respect  for  anv- 
thing-I  shall  have  to  take  him  home.  Apropos  of  cats,  how 
is  my  Jim  coming  on  ?  You  must  remember  he  is  getting  old 
and  has  lost  his  teeth,  and  so  be  a  little  indulgent  towards  his 
peculiarities. 

She  possessed  aptness  in  the  telling  of  stories  and  Dr. 
Craig  s  earnest  desire  was  that  she  might  write  stories 
for  children,  for  which  she  had  a  particular  facility  :  but 
the  care  of  her  six  little  ones  left  her  scant  time  for  liter- 

say,  ^\  hen  the  children  are  older,  I  will  write."  But 
before  the  leisure  time  came  she  was  called  away.  Her 
lather  w^s  a  man  of  strong  intellectuality  and  very  fond 
of  a  high  type  of  literature-chief  among  the  books  most 
read  in  h.s  library  were  Shakespeare  and  Scott.  Mrs. 
taug  had,  too,  a  sprightly  wit,  possibly  because  of  the 

nfn,  f  T  ,  ,'  "'"^^''''^  ^'^"^  ^^^  «P'-*"g  from  the  same 
dements  stock  from  which  came  Mark  Twain 

She  became  acquainted  with  Norman  J.  Coleman,  the 

Jo  L      '  Tl°^  ^^"'"'*"'''  **f  '^^  U°*ted  States,  ^heu 
he  was  publishing  a  stirring  agricultural  monthly  in  St 
Louis  having  a  large  circulation  and  with  contributions 

Alt  rr'^.M,'^*  "P  '"^  '^'  ^'^^"^^  Po««ible  standard. 
Ml  s  Churchill  was  invited  by  him  to  contribute.  She 
was  loath  to  try  it,  but  on  his  insistence  she  did  so,  and 


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144    LIFE  AND  LETTEI^  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


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frequent  complimentary  letters  were  received  by  her  from 
him.     A  portion  of  one  of  them  is  as  follows  : 

**  Your  excellent  article  for  the  Vaiiey  Farmer  has  just  been 
put  in  type  and  looks  well.  I  have  read  the  proof  with  great 
pleasure.  Two  or  three  others  have  read  the  article  and  say 
that  you  have  a  strong,  clear-cut  way  of  expressing  your  views 
which  they  admire.  1  came  near  writing  to  you  to  ask  permis- 
sion to  use  it  as  an  editorial. 

**  I  hope  you  will  write  more.  In  no  other  way  can  you  ac- 
complish so  much  good.  I  shall  always  be  glad  to  get  articles 
from  you — and  I  know  they  will  do  my  journal  much  good. 
Your  style  is  most  excellent — not  that  of  the  general  run  of 
female  writers — but  more  manly,  if  you  will  allow  me  that  ex- 
pression, conveying  truths  so  that  they  reach  the  heart  of  every 
reader.  The  soft  sickly  sentiuientalism  so  common  nowadays 
1  don't  like,  and  you  have  none  of  it." 

Paragraphs  from  other  letters  from  Mr.  Coleman  to 
Miss  Churchill  are  of  interest.  Under  date  of  December 
20,  1856,  he  writes  : 

**  I  have  a  good  deal  to  say  on  the  subject  of  education  dur- 
ing my  travels,  but  take  the  ground  that  physical  as  well  as 
moral  education  is  too  much  neglected  in  our  present  system. 
A  great  many  tell  me  that  if  I  will  start  such  a  school  as  I 
advocate,  they  will  patronize  it  forthwith.  I  have  no  idea  that 
I  shall  ever  start  one.  If  I  should,  I  should  purchase  a  large 
farm  contiguous  to  a  railroad  twenty  or  thirty  miles  from  St. 
Louis.  I  would  teach  practical  agriculture  to  the  scholars 
daily,  having  the  various  departments  of  the  farm  under  com- 
petent professors  as  well  as  a  thoroughly  scientific  department. 
The  products  of  the  farm  being  accessible  to  a  good  market 
would  always  sell  high  and  pay.  And  every  branch  of  farm- 
ing would  be  taught  in  the  most  approved  manner.  A  ladies' 
seminary  with  a  flower  and  fruit  garden  might  also  be  located 
on  the  same  farm.  The  ladies  should  also  be  taught  landscape 
gardening,  the  proper  laying  out  and  arrangement  of  the 
grounds,  the  grouping  in  proper  manner  of  the  trees,  plants, 
shrubs,  etc.,  and  should  have  ample  room  for  daily  physical  ex- 
ercise ;  and  the  laws  of  health  should  be  imparted  to  them, 


PKOGKESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      145 

which  they  should  be  required  to  observe.     I  could  get  the  land 
easily  enough,  but  it  would  cost  a  great  deal  to  erect  buildings 
hire  professors,   teachers,  etc.,  and   the  only  way  it  could   be 
done,  would  be  by  scholarships,  which  you  say  proved  a  failure 
at  Yellow  Springs. 

r  K 'i  .T°"''^  "",'  ^^"^  ^"^,"'l"S  '°  ^°  ^""h  such  a  school  unless 
I  had  the  complete  control  of  ,t.  Give  me  freely  and  candidly 
your  v.ews  of  such  a  school,  of  its  probable  success  and  any 
suggestions   hat  you  could  make  in  regard  to  either  department 

a  school."       "'     """^-     ^'  •'""  '^^  "°  '^"■" '°  '^'k  about  such 

It  was  a  busy  life  the  young  wife  entered  upon  at 
Bloom.ug  Grove,  for  in  addition  to  the  demands  of  a  pas- 
orate  upon  the  minister's  wife,  she  taught  for  a  time  in 
the  academy  of  the  church.  Peculiarly  happy  was  this 
nn.ou  ;  the  one  supplementing  the  other  ;  both  forming 
the  completed  whole  of  (he  ideal  Christian  home.  The 
devoted  w,fe-to.be  shone  forth  in  the  following  letter, 
written  to  Horace  Mann  a  month  before  her  marriage  : 

you  to  il""'  ''"°''  ^°^  '°  ^"'''"  y""-"  '""^■■'  °^  '^"'^  t°  thank 

,Zl°'JT^"  /^°''/''"u  '"■"^"^''  ^"'^  f°f  'he  content  you 
Z  n.H  ,-  S?'S'  '''°'"  '  ^m  very  grateful  as  well  as 
fC^'J  "^'"^^"y  <^"0"gh  feared  it  migh?  be  different  and 
xtctit  T  '"^^"^  y""  valued  so  highly %„  might  I^'very 
exacting  n,  your  demands.     I  know  well  how  high  a  comoli 

"  s'hVlI   l''  "°'^^  '  ^"""^  =""'  ^'l^P'^^d  fof  "Ch  other.'  ^ 
hein    it    nn  ""'T'  ^°"  ■'^"fficiently   by  saying  that  if  I  can 

n  ake?     UW        K   ^^'^  ,'"  ^"^  '^^"''°''  ^^  "'^^  ^ver  have  to 
besno  go  '"^'^  '"^^  '^'"  '°  '''"'  '"  ^  I  =hall  like 

even^f'r'L"°'  "^^'^  u?  ^^T  ^'"^  ^'"  "^"'y  <>'  "'8^  him  to  do  it, 

-mmt  L:Zn?Z"^^:  f ''T^  ^"^  appreciating  it,  which 
am  not  at  all  confident  of  m  the  present  case. 

done  fnr°  '^™T''"'  ''"7  g^^'ef^Hy.  '  that  Antioch  College  has 
aone  lor  me  what  no  other  would  ' 

"  I  know  .ny  joy  at  the  words-'  Antioch  College  will  con- 


U(^    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


tinue,'  would  not  have  been  in  any  wise  as  great  three  years 
ago  when  my  studies  there  were  not  yet  begun  as  when  I 
heard  those  words  and  my  course  was  ended.  Yet  you  would 
not  demand  such  a  vicarious  atonement  as  that  Mr.  Craig  should 
pay  my  debts. 

**  I  do  not  believe  in  any  conflict  of  duties  and  have  the 
most  undoubting  faith  that  some  time  in  the  eternal  fitness  of 
things  I  may  yet  show  my  gratitude  to  Antioch,  and  to  you 
which  is,  indeed,  the  most  of  what  I  mean  by  'Antioch.' 

"  I  cannot  realize  that  anybody's  presence  at  Antioch  is  es- 
sential save  of  the  one  with  whom  it  is  identified — in  whom  it 
has  so  far  had  its  life. 

"  But  you  want  helpers.  It  is  not  generous  that  you  should 
be  left  to  work  alone.  I  should  think  any  one  upon  whom  you 
may  call  for  help  would  feel  the  call  a  forcible  one. 

"  I  forwarded  your  letter  to  Mr.  Craig  by  the  first  mail  and 
have  not  heard  from  him  since.  I  did  not  express  any  prefer- 
ence and  begged  him  not  to  consider  me  as  having  any.  You 
will  not,  I  am  sure,  think  me  ungrateful.  Please  believe  how 
earnestly  I  wish  your  success  in  your  great  and  good  undertak- 
ings and  pray  for  your  ha})piness  in  them  all. 

"  Adelaide  Churchill." 

Deep  was  the  interest  whieb  the  young  preacher  took 
ill  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  at  that  time  slowly  but  surely 
approaching  the  great  crux  of  civil  war. 

"  I  cannot  exult,"  he  writes,  **  over  the  prospective  slaugh- 
terings of  this  great  struggle  ;  yet  in  view  of  what  is  to  come 
of  it,  according  to  my  expectations,  I  am  exultant  almost.  I 
think  the  kingdom  of  heaven  will  be  plainer  to  the  view  of 
nations  when  this  nation  emerges  from  this  struggle  for  a  second 
birth." 


To  a  friend  who  w^as  on  the  southern  side  of  the  line  he 
wrote : 

"  Dear  Brother  Wellons  : 

**  My  thoughts  have  frequently  been  with  you  since  I 
formed  an  acquaintance  with  you,  during  our  pleasant  trip  to 
Niagara  last  autumn.     Several  times  during  the  last  winter  and 


PROGEESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      147 

spring  I  was  upon  the  point  of  writing  to  you  :  why  I  did  not 
IS,  snnply,  because  ,t  ,s  not  always  a  virtue  of  mine  to  do  what- 
soever my  hand  findeth  to  do. 

;■  How  much  longer  I  should  have  deferred  my  purpose  to 
write  you.  I  cannot  tell,  had  I  not  recently  read  your  reply  to 
rhe  Providence  Resolutions. '  I  was  glad  to  read  that  anicle? 
Brother  Wellons;  and  nnmediately  determined  to  expre  to 
you  my  hearty  good  feehng  towards  you,  for  the  liberal  and 
manly  sentiments  you  have  thus  given  utterance  to 

"1  perceive  no  reason  why  the  subject  of  slavery  should  be 
made  a  wall  of  separation  between  those  who  are  brethren  ^ 
Christ,  or  why  ,t  should  prevent  them  from  cooperating  for  the 
furtherance  of  their  plans  of  Christian  benevolence.     You  are 
a  slaveholder   Brother  Wellons;   yet  this  fact  (notwithstandW 
that  all  my  feelings  and  convictions  are  opposed  to  slavery) 
ought  not  to  close  my  sympathies  against  you ;  nor  should  U 
cause  me  to  withdraw  my  aid  from  you  in  any  of  your  Chris 
tian  labours  which  it  might  be  in  my  power  to  help^nward  to 
a  happy  consummation.  ^ 

has'  lotT?  Th!."n ''  ""''  T'u  "'''''''  (■''^''  thoughtful  citizen 
has  not  ?)   the  progress  of  the  recent  agitation  of  the  slaverv 

..rand  'ho°"  '"T'--  ^'''"S  '°''  --"  bitterness  otfee7 
Sk,n  rL?T  P""^^"  J-^-'o"^/  ^ere  commingled  in  this 
agila  ion,  I  felt  desirous,  when  the  subject  of  slavery  was  re- 
erred  for  report  to  a  committee  at  thi  Marian  Convrntion 
that  a  mild  considerate  and  Christian-like  report  should  be 
presented  before  that  body.     Such  a  report  (to  my  g  eat  grati! 

pC"iirr:?str;T':f!'  ^l^  'i'^'''"-  '^^^^  ^^e  r'eplrt  fafL  o 
than  was  to  hi  /'  7  ^u°''^""  °'  Southern),  is  no  more 
of  nVIt,  ^^''^^"^'^'^j  that  It  is  acceptable  to  moderate  men 
tfloTrl\    T  "'"^'ll  ^'^''^' '  'h«  it,  and  the  whole  sTb- 

betle°  ^h  e^hrln  l''VT''i  "°'  ^  •"^'^^  *  -"^"^^  °f  contention 
between  brethren  who  (if  they  remain  at  peace)  may  accomplish 

so  much  for  the  world's  good,  I  earnestly  desire  and  hop7    It 

you  on  tv'  ""'t'"  '''^"°"^'  'f  "^^  ^^"^""^''t^  expressed  by 
tC.hf,,  '"^J""'  "^  ">'  sentiments  of  the  majority  of 
tnoiigluful  persons  in  our  country. 

courie^o?  ,\!n^^^u°  ^^  .'i"^'  ^^^  '^°  "°'  sympathize  with  the 
kctnf  .1  T.''°  '"°"^'^  .'■""■^'"  f'^^  discussion  of  the  sub- 

ject of  slavery.  Discussion  is  not  '  Agitation.'  And  if  ever  a 
gemnne  brotherly  feeling  shall  come  to  be  felt,  recipr(KalTy  in 
the  Northern  and  Southern  sections  of  our  country^  I  am  per" 


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148     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


suaded  that  it  will  be,  not  by  the  efforts  of  those  who  declare 
it  wisdom  to  keep  silence  upon  this  subject,  but  by  a  mutually 
candid  and  free  discussion  of  it,  by  judicious  and  Christian 
men  of  the  North  and  of  the  South.  I  trust  that  moderate  and 
wise  counsel  will  be  regarded  by  our  brethren  both  South  and 
North  ;  and  that  no  unwise  movement  or  unkind  speech  of 
brethren  in  either  section  will  be  permitted  to  destroy  the 
harmony  of  our  united  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  Christian 
knowledge,  freedom  and  holiness." 

Below  will  be  foiiud  au  extract  from  a  letter  written 
somewhat  later  to  bis  father  which  will  give  a  clear  idea 
of  the  sterner  view  he  took  of  some  who  were  engaged  iu 
attempts  to  stab  the  nation  in  the  dark.  It  is  followed 
by  a  letter  from  Dr.  H.  W.  Bellows,  for  many  years  an 
ardent  friend  of  Dr.  Craig.  Dr.  Bellows  was  president 
of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  organized  in 
the  North  to  snpplement  the  work  of  the  medical  corps 
of  the  army  ;— the  choice  and  inspection  of  camps,  the 
transportation  of  the  wonnded  from  battle-field  to  hos- 
pitals and  their  care  thereafter,  the  formation  of  convales- 
cent camps,  the  establishment  of  a  bureau  of  vital  statis- 
tics—these were  some  of  the  important  features  of  work 
of  which  Dr.  Bellows  speaks  in  his  letter.  Mr.  Craig 
says : 

**  I  have  not  heard  to-day  whether  Governor  Seymour's 
*  Friends '  are  yet  busy  in  New  York  or  not.  They  will  be 
shot  down  soon,  I  hope,  if  they  are  still  mobbing.  I  wish  to 
see  the  authority  of  the  United  States  vindicated  so  triumph- 
antly, that  henceforth  '  not  a  dog  shall  move  his  tongue.'  If 
traitors  will  have  '  free  speech  '  to  incite  mob  resistance  to  the 
government,  let  the  government  have  its  right  to  send  free  bul- 
lets among  them.  I  ache  to  see  a  vindication  of  authority  and 
law,  against  the  lawless  ;  but  I  can  wait  patiently  ;  for  I  see 
how  each  new  move  of  events  makes  manifest  some  depth  of 
wickedness  which  we  did  not  before  know.  Who  could  believe 
that  our  pandering  to  slavery  here  at  the  North  could  have  pro- 
duced such  horrid  forms  of  negro-hate  ?     It  is  well  that  an  op- 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      149 

portunity  should  be  given  to  all  to  show  their  sympathies 
Those  who  hate  the  government  and  would  join  the  open  rebels 
—if  they  dared— have  opportunity  now  (and  may  have  more 
hereafter;  to  show  themselves ;  but,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the 
stench  of  the  Revolutionary  Tories  is  no  comparison  to  the 
offense  m  the  nostrils  which  soon  these  men  will  be,  who  under 
pretense  of  Constitution-guarding,  are  now  stabbing  their  coun- 
try m  the  dark.     They  will  be  remembered  long,— I  think 

"  The  news  from  the  Southwest  is  very  cheering  indeed*  I 
would  rejoice  over  our  victories  there,  if  I  did  not  just  nowVeel 
that  the  pressmg  point  with  us  is  to  have  a  triumphant  victory 
over  the  traitors  at  home.     T/iat  will  come  soon,  I  think." 

,   -,  ^  ^    '*  ^^^/A/^,  JV.  H.,July  20,  i86i, 

"  My  dear  Brother  Craig  : 

"  I  have  flown  home  to  my  farm  for  a  few  days  to  rest 
my  weary  body  and  labouring  spirit-after  many  months  of 
restless  activity.  Your  letter  of  June  27th  I  did  not  get  till 
long  after  July  4th  and  since  I  received  it  a  week  or  more  ago. 
have  not  had  a  moment  to  notice  it.  You  can  help  us  essen- 
lally  by  setting  an  example  to  other  towns  and  communities 
like  your  own,  of  active  sympathy  with  our  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion. Money  is  the  thing  we  want— to  send  our  inspectors  and 
keep  them  m  every  camp  and  hospital,  urging  all  the  care  of 
those  still  well,  and  all  the  possible  alleviations  which  the  hard 
condition  of  our  sick  and  wounded  allow  of.  I  think  a  con- 
tribution  taken  up  in  your  church  after  a  suitable  discourse  on 
the  relations  of  Body  and  Spirit,  or  the  relations  of  strength  or 
physical  force  to  civil  and  social  well-being,  would  be  an  excel- 
lent example  to  all  our  churches,  and  properly  exploited,  one 
that  might  be  extensively  followed. 

'*  I  send  you  a  few  documents  that  may  interest  you  in  our 
Commission  still  further,  for  I  have  no  time  to  set  forth  the 
matter,  as  I  should  like. 

*'  We  are  ready  and  anxious  to  receive  at  Room  No.  24,  Cooper 
Institute,  New  York,  at  the  Woman's  Central  Army  Relief  As- 
sociation, all  kinds  of  hospital  clothing,  and  stores,  flannel 
Shirts  drawers,  socks,  sheets,  pillow-cases,  etc.,  which  we  un- 
dertake to  distribute  with  judgment  and  despatch. 

'*!  ani  very  glad,  my  dear  Craig,  of  any  opportunity  of  com- 
municating  with  you-for  I  can  never  forget  our  long  and  al- 
ways pleasant  and  profitable  friendship— which,  however  inter- 


ill 


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150    LIFE  AND  LETTEES  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

rupted  by  our  diverse  cares  and  by  the  hard  conditions  of  space 
and  time— IS  never  broken  in  spirit,  and  will  continue  \vhen 
wars  and  fightings  have  ceased,  and  the  world  and  her  con- 
cerns have  all  passed  away. 

"With  kind  regard  to  your  wife,  and  with  the  affectionate 
recollections  of  my  own  family, 

'*  I  am  your  friend  and  brother, 

'*H.  W.  Bellows." 

While  absent  from  his  young  wife  at  intervals  during 
this  period,  he  wrote  frequently  of  the  impending  con- 
flict  in  such  paragraphs  as  these : 

"It  came  up  rainy  this  morning  about  the  time  people  would 
be  starting  for  church,  so  not  more  than  fifty  were  present  • 
sermon  taken  from  Hebrews  ii  :  32-34— showing  that  'Faith' 
both  nourishes  the  passive  virtues,  begets  the  active  ones  too 
!•  or  through  it,  the  faith-heroes  of  olden  time  were  'out  of 
weakness  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight 
the  armies  of  the  aliens.'  Two  more  young  men  have  gone  to 
the  army  from  this  region.  You  did  not  know  them  The 
news  in  the  paper  of  Sunday  morning  the  28th,  is  that  20.000 
troops  are  now  m  Washington,  and  the  secession  spirit  in 
Mary  and  and  Virginia  shows  signs  of  submission.  1  can't 
help  thinking  that  it  might  be  best  for  the  future,  if  the  rebels 

Hnitn  c:f  f  ^'  ^T'  °"^  't'''  °^  '^^  ^'^'^"^  «^  ^he  army  of  the 
UTa  f-  ^  ^^^"^Pi^hize  with  the  Massachusetts  troops  in 
their  desire  to  meet  the  Baltimore  mob." 

'*  The   safety  of  our   country  occupies   every  heart      The 

largest  ever  held  there.  Men  of  all  parties,_Mayor  Wood 
aiul    everybody,.-urge    the   people   to   fight   back   the   rebels 

Ir^LTr'V^  '^'  ^^"^  ^^  '^'  ^^^^"«g  -^^"^-nce  of  ou; 
triumph  over  the  traitors. 

to  'ii!wh/^°'^  ''?'  l^}'^^-  "  co-^Pany  in  Albany  and  expects 
ves  e  dav  L^  '''  '"/^'^^hmgton  shortly.  He  was  at  church 
oSenc  ?^  .1  ^"^^  "'*">'  P"°P'"-  Sermon  was  on  the  duty 
Tn  ?m«  nfH  f°"  u '^'  '°  '^^'  '°  government,  especially 

Zrl^T  TJ  '°  "'^  '^tate-partly  on  that.     The  second 

sermon  was  on  '  the  city  that  hath  foundations  ' 


PROGRESS  AT  BLOOMING  GROVE      151 

"In  the  afternoon  I  attended  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
participated  in  the  services,  especially  in  a  prayer  for  the 
country.  '^    ' 

"  I  arrived  here.  Xenia,  Ohio,  safely  two  hours  ago.  Shortlv 
after  arriving  a  stranger  accosted  me,  and  offered  me  a  passage 
up  with  him  in  a  carriage  which  he  expected  shortlv  'Ihe 
carriage  did  not  come.  So  he  procured  a  locomotive  and  car 
and  we  are  now  going  up.  Stranger's  name  is  '  General  Rose 
crans.  I  will  mail  this  at  Yellow  Springs,-or  send  it  bv  the 
engineer  to  be  mailed  at  Xenia."        ^     ^  '    "'  "^"^  "  °y  'he 

"The  telegraph  hither  this  morning  informs  us  that  the  bells 
a    os^thf  ;",5"^"-"..\""ouncing  the  presence  of  .he  rebel 
across  the  river,— our  pickets  driven  in  by  bodies  of  them 
I  here  are  earthwork  fortifications  across  the  river  and  severd 
myriads  of  volunteers  in  them  to  defend  the  city 

"Do  not  be  alarmed  if  I  should  not  arrive  Tuesday.  Mili- 
tary law  may  impede  the  movements  of  travellers.  I  can  ee  a 
pass,  I  presume  but  don't  take  alarm  if  I  should  not  arrive- 
and  should  not  be  able  to  get  a  telegram  to  you  at  Rome." 

Year  by  year  Austin  Craig's  interest  in  education  deep- 
ened. He  Lad  shown  great  capacity  for  teaching :  he 
was  to  show,  as  other  years  passed,  still  higher  powers 
We  may  turn  at  this  point  to  the  events  of  one  of  the 
most  important  periods  in  his  life,  eveuta  which  centre  in 
Antioch  College. 


■I 


Antioch  College— Its  founders  were  Christians 
who  desired  to  make  the  college  open  as  Christ 
the  Church  itself,  to  all  worthy  souls  irrespective 
of  creed,  sex,  colour,  or  condition.  Antioch  is 
the  expression  of  a  yearning  after  a  better  age, 
not  yet  come  but  amid  all  the  wrecks  and  ruins 
surely  coming,  when  learning  and  knowledge  and 
science  shall  be  consecrated  to  the  uses  of  life  ; 
when  all  civil  institutions,  all  laws  and  constitu- 
tions of  society  shall  express  the  will  of  Christ  ; 
when  nations  shall  no  longer  depose  and  oppress 
the  poor  and  defenseless,  but  consider  the  least  • 
as  Christ's  wards  and  treat  them  so. 

Austin  Craig. 


4 


152 


IX 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN 

SOME  twenty  miles  from  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  plain 
with  the  noble  mountains  round  about,  there  was 
established  in  the  far  long  ago  the  city  of  Antiochus,  on 
the  river  Orontes,  most  magnificent  city  of  the  Hellen- 
istic  Kings  of  Syria.  Three  hundred  years  before  Christ 
the  city  was  founded,  and,  until  Constantinople  assumed 
leadership,  it  continued  to  be  the  chief  city  of  the  East. 
It  was  a  beautiful  city,  this  Crown  of  the  East,  as  the 
people  of  Antiochus  loved  to  call  their  home,  progressive, 
magnificent,  luxurious,  rich  in  all  beautiful  things. 

When  the  time  of  the  Christ  drew  near  it  was  still  a 
notable  city  ;  its  people  famed  among  other  things,  as 
a  historian  points  out,  ^'for  their  biting  and  scurrilous 
wit  and  for  their  ingenuity  in  inventing  nicknames. '» 
Here  in  this  city  of  magnificent  history  came  Paul,  the 
apostle,  and  Antiochus  became  Antioch,  home  of  the 
mother  church  of  Gentile  Christianity,  place  of  the  first 
ministry  of  the  great  disciple,  the  starting-point  from 
whence  he  set  out  on  his  memorable  missionary  journeys 
through  Asia  Minor  and  Greece. 

It  seemed  particularly  a  city  of  religious  possibilities 
and  when  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  of  the  new  era 
It  became  the  home  of  a  theological  school  which  had 
been  in  course  of  formation  for  nearly  a  century,  under 
the  fostering  of  the  learned  presbyters  of  Antioch,  it  was 
little  wonder  that,  as  one  writer  puts  it,  *4t  distinguished 
Itself  by  difi-using  a  taste  for  Scriptural  knowledge  and 
arrived  at  a  middle  course  in  Biblical  Hermeneutics  — 

153  ' 


II 


^!i 


154    LIFE  A.\D  LETTEKS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

betwecu  a  vigon,»«Iy  literal  and  a„  allegorical  method  of 
nuerpn.  at.on  '  It  seen,  par.icularly  interesting,  iwe 
u  eutity  the  .subject  of  this  work  with  the  newer  Intiolh 
ol  Amenea,  that  this  high-sounding  term,  hermeneutS 
should  .n  us  de«uitio„,-"the  art  or  .sci;nce  of  t^n^ 
the  meaning  of  an  author's  words  and  phnu^s  and  of  ex 

ti  ;m".'7h"  '«  """"''  '^^'^'^^y  '*PP'i«J  to  the  interpreta- 
t  o  of  the  benpture8,"-so  closely  tit  into  the  life  work 
ot  this  brilliant  interpreter  of  the  Word  of  God 

The  new  Autioch  was  not  a  city,  but  a  college"  a  college 
destined  to  a  storm-to^sed  history,  where  noble  men  and 
women  have  b«;n  educated,  where  bitter  feuds  have  been 

if"S  ;  "^"^  *'""'  '':"  ^'"""I"'*-*'^-    ^V-ith  any  bitterness 
ot  sect  which   may  luae  arisen,   with  any  dogmatical 
«"slaugh..s,  this  chronicle  is  not  Concerned  fit  is  enou^ 
here  to  present  a  brief  history  of  this  institution  and  the 
com.ec  ion  wth  it  of  the  man  of  whom  this  volume  treats 
In   the  latter  part  of  the  decade,   ending  with  1840 
JuanycKucational  institutions  were  forming  in  what  was 

dH  ,  ^?'A,^'*^«^'  '^^  '•«g'°"  of  which  the  states  of 
Im  a,  and  Ohio  were  the  geographical  and.  it  may  be 
s.  d  the  intellectual  centre.  Much  was  being  sai.l  about 
the  nivei^ahty  of  Education  ;  the  development  of  woman 
u  education  ;-the  e.lu..ation  of  woman  alongside  of  man 
ludeed,  was  among  the  possibilities  for  which  the  mor^ 
progressive  hoped.  i-"  lut  moie 

lu  the  state  of  Massachusetts  lived  a  man  approaching 

ns  prime  who  had  already  crowded  into  the  tentf  le 

hat  dwelt  in  his  frail  frame  a  half  dozen  average  live 

He  was  cnsp.cuously  interestcl  in   education,  and  par- 

Ocularly  the  education  of  women  on  a  footing  'with  m^eu 

the  Z'       '  T1  ^°'"">«"<li"g  fis^'-To,  educationally,  in 

and  s"".  •  ^        'T  ""  """"  '"  ^'''''"'^^  history  will 
stand  so  high  in  the   list  of  those  who  helped  lay  the 

foundation  of  .sc-ular  .-ducation  as  that  of  Horace  Mann 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN         155 

He  had  been  for  many  years  the  secretary  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Board  of  Education.  Drawn  from  his  life-work 
by  the  tremendous  national  struggle  then  impending  he 
was  sent  to  Congress,  where  he  fought  a  memorable  fight 
against  the  extension  of  slavery.  Notable  among  the 
men  who  were  pitted  against  him  iu  the  midst  of  those 
exciting  times  was  Daniel  Webster. 

But  the  life  in  Washington  was  extremely  distasteful 
to  him  and  he  ever  turned  longingly  to  the  work  he  had 
temporarily  abandoned.     One  autumn  day  in  the  year 
1832  Mr.  Maun  received  the  announcement  that  he  had 
been  nominated  for  governor  of  Massachusetts  by  the 
Free  Democracy,  and  his  wide  popularity  both  as  an 
educator,  a  congressman,  and  as  a  private  citizen,  pointed 
to  his  triumphant  election.     On  the  same  day  came  the 
announcement  that  he  had  been  chosen  president  of  An- 
tioch  college,  a  college-to-be,  located  far  from  the  Eastern 
home  he  loved  so  much,  in  the  midst  of  a  pioneer  region 
a  college  that  was  to  be  an  experiment,  one  that  would 
call  for  every  ounce  of  reserve  force  iu  his  body  and 
miud,  where  material  recompense  was  slight  and  all  the 
future  problematical. 

But,  true  to  the  ideals  which  controlled  every  act  of 
his  ife,  he  chose  the  call  to  Antioch  ;  for  its  promise  was 
«x)rk  for  higher  things.     For  several  years  the  college 
idi-a  had  been  growing  in  the  Christian  denomination,  a 
denomination  just  then  attracting  attention  because,  in 
the  midst  of  the  conflict  between  the  old  orthodoxy  and 
the  newer  Liberalism,  it  took  a  middle  ground,  champiou- 
lug  a  simple  and  direct  Christianity.     On  matters  re- 
ligious Mr.  Mann  was  deeply  devout ;  on  mattera  of 
morality  he  was  strict  to  austerity  ;  on  matters  theological, 
lie  was  gently  liberal.     When  the  subject  of  his  becom! 
mg  the  first  president  of  Antioch  was  broached  to  him  he 
wrote  in  answer  to  the  proposal : 


;    I 


I. 


»    ; 
J-  .1 


K» 


I 
^ 


156     lAVK  AND  LETTP:RS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

**  No  event  in  my  life  has  ever  caused  me  more  deep  and 
solemn  anxiety  than  the  application  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
presidency  of  your  college  at  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio.  The  two 
great  ideas  which  woo  me  towanls  your  place  are  — 

"First,  That  of  redressing  the  long-inflicted  wrongs  of 
woman  by  giving  her  equal  advantages  of  education, — I  do  not 
say  in  all  respects  an  identical  education,  but  equal  advantages 
of  education — with  men;  and, 

"Second,  The  idea  of  maintaining  a  non-sectarian  college. 
I  have  always  had  the  deepest  aversion  to  sectarianism,  and  to 
all  systems  of  proselytism  among  Christian  sects." 

While  on  a  lecturing  tour  in  February  of  the  same  year, 
1852,  Mr.  Mann,  as  already  noted,  met  the  young  minis- 
ter, Austin  Craig,  at  Blooming  Grove.  In  a  letter  to  his 
wife,  written  from  Blooming  Grove,  he  refers  to  the 
young  piistor  in  the  words  which  were  given  in  a  former 
chapter. 

It  Wiis  thus  that  a  friendship  was  formed  which  con- 
tinued unbroken  through  the  years  up  to  the  hour  of  Mr. 
i\rann's  death,  and  in  the  sadly  tragic  hours  when  the 
call  came,  one  of  those  to  whom  he  tenderly  sent  his  last 
greetings  was  the  man  whom  he  had  not  only  come  to 
love  as  a  brother,  but  upon  whom  he  had  leaned  as  an 
ever- wise  counsellor. 

The  impression  which  the  young  man  had  made  upon 
his  first  meeting  with  Mr.  IMann,  found  expression,  on 
the  latter's  return  to  Washington  to  complete  his  Con- 
gressional duties  before  assuming  the  actual  presidency 
of  the  college,  in  the  following  letter  : 

'*  Washington,  Aug.  28,  18^2. 
"  Rev.  A.  Craig. 

"  Mv  DEAR  Sir  : 

"  I  heard  of  a  fact  to-day  which  gave  me  temporary 
pleasure  and  permanent  pain.  It  was  that  you  had  been  ap- 
plied to  to  become  a  member  of  the  Faculty  of  Antioch  College, 
and  had  declined.     When  the  idea  of  your  being  connected 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN         157 

with  that  institution  flashed  through  my  mind,  it  awakened 
everythmg  of  hope,  and  turned  hope  into  certainty  It  was  a 
revulsion  of  feel mg,  that  carried  my  blood  with  it,  to  hear  vou 
had  declmed.  ^ 

"  A  man  like  you  will  do  good  anywhere ;  but  how  can  you  do 
so  much  good  anywhere  else  on  this  earth  as  before  children 
and  with  children,  and  transfusing  your  spirit  into  young  men 
and  women  ?  -^5 

"  Had  it  ever  occurred  to  me  that  you  were  a  candidate  with 
the  committee,  I  do  not  know  that  I  should  not  have  made 
your  acceptance  a  sine  qua  non,  I  know  of  no  man  in  the 
world  whose  daily  cooperation  in  such  a  work  I  should  so  much 
dehght  in  as  m  yours.  I  do  not  expect,  even  on  the  con. 
tingency  of  my  appointment,  to  remain  connected  with  the 
institution  for  many  years.  My  health  and  age  denote  this 
How  delightful  the  idea  of  leaving  it  in  the  h^ands  o?  such  a 
man  as  yourself  !-able  to  work,  willing  to  work,  and  quali 
suits  '"^  '^'''^'  ^'''^'  of  course,  with  the  best  re- 

**  Yours  most  truly, 

''Horace  Mann." 

In  answer  to  Mr.  Mannas  letter  came  the  followimr 
response : 

**  Blooming  Grove,  N.  K,  August  ji,  18'; 2 
"  Hon.  Horace  Mann.  ^  >  ^^J-^- 

"Mv  DEAR  Sir: 

^.  V,     A    ^Tu  ""^'^  ^^""^  ^^"^'  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^f  Friday  last,  came 

hlv'il   ZJ'T  '^■^\^-     ^  ^"^  ''""^y  h^PPy  t«  be  s«  favoura- 
ably  regarded  by  one  whose  esteem  I  so  highly  value  •  but— 

excuse  me  for  saying  it-your  kind  and  commendatory  language 
I)ained  me  ;  seeming  to  me  so  little  deserved  by  me.  1  know  no 
position  in  which  I  could  reasonably  anticipate  so  much  real  hap- 
IJiness,  as  in  being  associated  with  yourself  and  a  band  of  kin- 
I  reel  minds,  m  the  work  of  instructing  young  men  and  women 

L  f  P^'"ciples  of  useful  science  and  Christian  virtue. 
n..H    "^f  ^'^^^  ^he  off-er  of  a  professorship  in  Antioch  College, 
partly--I  may  say  chiefly-from  a  consciousness  of  lacking  the 
requisite  preparation  and  fitness  for  such  a  post.     It  would  cost 

L™.         {/"l  ^''^"''  ^"^^^^"^    ^^   ^^^^h   the   Ancient 
i^anguages,  or  Mathematics ;  besides  it  would  be  impossible 


I4 


158    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

for  rae  to  enter  heartily  upon  the  work  of  con)municating  in- 
struction in  these  branches  of  study,  for  the  reason  that  my 
heart  is  in  quite  a  different  department  of  knowledge— that  is 
to  say,  in  the  department  of  Christian  knowledge— in  its  Social 
Individual  and  Physical  applications.  I  could  not  feel  justified 
in  adopting  a  sphere  of  action  which  could  not  be  considered 
essentially  a  field  of  Gospel  labour.  Could  I  haxe  a  post  whose 
duties  would  permit  me,  for  instance,  to  teach  the  Physical 
Laws  in  their  moral  relations;  to  unfold  the  true  principles  of 
personal  and  social  morality  ;  to  give  instruction  in  the  Greek 
New  Testament ;  and  to  preach  statedly  as  a  pastor  of  those 
young  people;  that  I  could  feel  free  to  accept;  for  that  com- 
prehends the  duties  to  which  I  feel  called. 

"  But  I  had  no  assurance  that  any  such  unusual  professorship 
was  in  contemplation  for  Antioch  College;  and  so  I  replied  to 
the  letter  of  invitation  by  stating  that  1  preft^rred  to  remain  in 
my  present  very  agreeable  pastoral  relation,  rather  than  to  ac- 
cept a  post  whose  duties  I  could  not  enter  upon  with  a  whole 
heart.  To  teach  a  band  of  ingenuous  young  men  and  women 
the  great  principles  of  Physical,  Intellectual  and  Spiritual 
Health,  is  the  work  which  of  all  others  1  choose.  I  would 
sooner  do^  that  in  Blooming  Grove,  than  do  anything  else  in 
Antioch  College.  I  hope  you  will  assume  the  reins  in  the  new 
institution.  It  can  hardly  fail  of  extensive  usefulness,  if  only 
the  right  men  are  placed  at  its  head ;  especially  if  the  right 
man  (Mann)  is  placed  in  the  presidency  ! 

'♦There  is  a  young  man  of  the  number  of  our  '  Christian* 
ministers,  who  would  be  a  capital  acquisition  to  the  board  of 
instructors.      He  is  an  expert  and  enthusiastic  phrenologist ;  has 
taken  a  regular  course  of  medical  study  in  a  medical  college  in 
Philadelphia;    and    belongs    to    that    class  of  clergymen  who 
preach  much  respecting  the  Formation  of  Character,  the  Con- 
duct of  Life,  and  Obedience  to  the  Creator's  Laws;  addressing 
particularly  the    youth.     He  would  love  to  teach  Physiology, 
Dietetics,    Hygiene,    and    Phrenology,  to   the   young    people 
His   name   is   Joseph    G.  Lawshe.     He  resides  at  present  in 
Quakertown,  Hunterdon  County,  New  Jersey;  an  affection  of 
the  throat  having  compelled  him  temporarily  to  retire  from  the 
public  duties  of  the  ministry.— I  take  the  liberty  to  accompany 
this  letter  with  an   'Address'  by  him,  in  which  especially  in 
the  pencil-marked  pages  at  the  conclusion,  I  think  you  will  feel 
interested. 


^ 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN         159 

<'I  have  taken  the  liberty  also  (knowing  your  interest  in  all 
well-meant  efforts  for  the  elevation  of  the  youth)  to  mail  you  a 
copy  of  my  thirteenth  'occasional  tract,'  entitled  <The 
Sphere  of  Mary  '  It  contains  the  substance  of  one  of  a  series 
of  sermons  which  I  have  recently  delivered  to  the  Young  Men 
and  Women  and  Children  in  this  place.-Should  an  oppor- 
tunuy  present  itself,  I  will  gladly  avail  myself  of  your  kind  in- 
vitauon  to  visit  you  at  West  Newton.     •  Elizabeth  Blackwell, 

aaws  of\ife''  "'"      *  "  ''°'""^  °^  '^""''^  °"  '*>« 

"  Yours,  ex  animo, 
"Austin  Craig." 

Upon  Mr.  Mann's  formal  acceptance  of  the  presidency 
of  Antioch  Mr.  Craig  wrote  to  him  this  letter : 

,,  tr ,     u       "  ^Jf'""'"S  Grove,  TV.  K,  October  14,  i8s2. 
"  Hon.  Horace  Mann.  *      -^ 

"  My  dear  Sir  : 

"I   learn  with  feelings  of  gratification,  your  election 
to    the  presidency  of     'Antioch   College.'      I   believe    that 
you   will    find  a  noble   field   of   usefulness   in   this   new  in 
st.tution.     I   am   familiar  with  the  persons  and  the  agenc  es 
which  originated  and  are  now  advancing  this  enterprise -and  I 
conceive  that  there  will  be  no  material  difficulty  fn  renderl 
.h,s  college  superior  to  any  other  west  of  the  Alleghanies    Tn^ 
deed   I  see  not  why  it  cannot  be  made  strictly  a' model '   n- 
stitution.     It  IS  the  first  that  the  '  Christians '  have  established 
and  they  have  few  prejudices  in  favour  of  .A/  things,   n  gen- 
eral  (always    excepting    the   old    Christianity),    and   of   oH 
scholastic  methods,  in  particular.     I  earnestly  wi  h  the  continu 

TLT^^A  ^  TI  ^^  '."^trumental  in  the  establishment  of 
minded  and  I"'"''  "'  '"^'""'?'  '-hence  multitudes  of  large 
TsSs  vineyard  "  "'"  '''"  ^°  '""'  *<> '^'->- -  °- 
in,',i.!,!"^^^"  ^}^l  *  ^'■''"""8  "^"^  should  be  connected  with  the 

rom   devoted  1^:^  '  T"""^  "'^^^'"^  ^'^°"'d  ^  '«'"«<1  'here 
me  rests    of    PK   '.h^.^'^^^n^ment  of  the  great  principles  and 

'Chri   Lnf.    K^^"^^''    ^°'^'^';    ^"'l    M°^^'    Salvation.     The 
Christians     have    no  magazine  of  this  character,-indeed 


.    fl 


160    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


nothing  of  a  higher  grade  than  the  ordinary  religious  news- 
paper ;  and  a  magazine  of  the  proper  character  ought  to  secure 
an  ample  support,  and  obtain  a  large  circulation  throughout  the 
denomination,  but  especially  in  the  West.  It  ought  to  find  a 
large  support  outside  the  denomination  ;  because  it  ought  not 
to  be  denominational  in  its  character. 

"  I  have  never  yet  seen  a  magazine  that  meets  my  views  with 
regard  to  what  a  Christian  publication  ought  to  be.  The 
religious  periodicals  are  sectarian,  and  almost  exclusively 
theological.  Got!  in  Theology  they  treat,  after  a  fashion  ;  but 
God  in  Science,  Society,  and  Progress,  they  generally  ignore: 
as  the  scientific  and  the  physiological  publications  likewise 
ignore  the  truths  of  the  Christian  sphere.  Why  must  our 
periodical  literature  be  so  sectarian  ?  Shall  we  never  be  de- 
livered from  the  fragmentary  and  'one-idea'  view  of  the 
Universe? 

"I  am  impatient  that  Humboldt's  great  work,  which  ap- 
proaches the  true  standard  by  many  degrees  nearer  than  many 
other  works,  shoulil  be  called  'Cosmos,'  while  it  almost  en- 
tirely ignores  the  moral  Soul.  I  want  to  see  an  ably-conducted 
monthly,  in  which  all  the  interests  and  relations  of  Man  are 
distinctly  recognized.  Let  us  see  the  universe  as  a  whole. 
Let  Christianity  and  Science  and  Physical  and  Social  relations, 
be  woven  together  somewhat  after  the  manner  that  Our  Father 
interweaves  Mind  and  Matter  in  His  '  Cosmos.'  The  con- 
stant aim  of  every  article  in  such  a  paper  should  be  to  point 
home  the  mind  towards  the  true  centre  of  the  universe  where 
God  sits  enthroned  in  love,  and  radiant  with  the  glories  of 
salvation  in  the  person  of  Christ. 

'*  I  find,  in  the  July  number  of  the  American  Journal  of 
Science  and  Arts,  an  extract  from  Harvey's  '  Marine  Algx  of 
North  America,'  which  expresses  an  important  and  suggestive 
fact  I 

"  *  Unfortunately,  it  happens  that  in  the  educational  course 
prescribed  to  our  divines,  natural  history  has  no  place ;  for 
whi(  h  reason  many  are  ignorant  of  the  important  bearings 
which  the  book  of  nature  has  upon  the  book  of  Revelation. 
1  iiey  do  not  consider,  apparently,  that  both  are  from  God- 
both  are  His  faithful  witnesses  to  mankind.  And  if  this  be  so, 
IS  It  reasonable  to  suppose  that  either,  without  the  other,  can  be 
fully  understood  ?  It  is  only  necessary  to  glance  at  the  absurd 
commentaries  in  reference  to  natural  objects  which  are  to  be 


:■  ■'   t 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN         161 

found  in  too  many  annotators  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  to  be 
convinced  of  the  benefit  which  the  clergy  would  themselves 
derive  from  a  more  extended  study  of  the  works  of  creation  ■ 

•  "  .J  '  r"^^'^'^^ '  "^  numerous,  ready  to  learn,  and  will- 
ing f^  do  Their  intellectual  character  and  tendencies  are  to 
be  created  Antioch  College  is,  humanly  speaking,  to  be  the 
Providential  means  of  this  work.  The  president  of  this  insti- 
tution can  gain  an  iiifluence  over  the  minds  of  the  ministers 
and  people  of  this  body,  second  to  none.  Ministers  will  prob- 
ably be  educated  by  hundreds  at  this  Jerusalem  of  the  '  Chris- 
tians. Why  would  it  not  be  well  to  establish  there  a  monthly 
magazine  of  the  character  above  indicated,  adapted  especially  to 
the  wants  of  the  young  men  and  young  women  now  arising  in 
our  country,  and  at  this  momentous  era,  to  play  a  part  in  the 
advancement  of  civilization,  more  glorious  than  has  fallen  to 
the  lot  of  any  generation  since  the  apostolic  age  ? 

"  Our  church  has  reappointed  the  committee  of  the  last  year  to 
procure  a  series  of  lectures  to  be  delivered  to  us  the  present  cold 
season.  We  wish  to  hear  you  again.  Will  it  not  be  in  your 
power  to  make  us  an  early  visit,  and  give  us  a  lecture  or  two  ? 
Ihe  young  men  at  Montgomery  (about  twelve  miles  from  this 
place)  have  taken  measures  to  secure  a  course  of  lectures  in 
Li,''!  It  'J^''.^'"'^''  ("i°ved  by  our  example),  and  they  will 
most  likely  desire  to  secure  the  lecturers  that  visit  us,  for  their 
own  course.     At  least,  so  in  regard  to  several  who  were  named, 

™rh^r!lrr°"!  ""^  '""'•     °^  "'*''  '^°^^^"'  I  ^°"W  inform 
you  hereafter.     As  to  compensation,  we  cannot  safely  to  our- 

"f^l  I'  f  °"''  ^^T'^'^  ^  '^'6^''  compensation  than  /2s  for  a 
ingle  lecture  ;  with  the  addition  of  travelling  expens^  in  case 
the  lecturer  comes  far  to  address  us 

whv  \'^T^  ''^"'^  u*'^'  "-"f  P^°P'^  '"  ^  "^^^"  'O'^n  are  enquiring 
why  they  cannot  have  lectures  as  well  as  the  Blooming  Grovf 

commu„,.y^  (!)  Heretics  ought  not  to  have  all  the  good  things! 
n~e,  ?n"h"'T  ^'^^''^^^^ti'^^l  neighbours  have  taken 
measures  to  have  lectures  this  winter,  in  order  to  keep  their 
young  people  away  from  the  Blooming  Grove  lectures  I  am 
informed  that  their  pastor  stated  fro,^  his  pulpit  that  al  our 
DeL,?  i'l'T '""'"■  ''"' ^'"^  two-some  say  .«.  exception,- 
De,s,sand  Unitarians.  Do,  Mr.  Mann,  please  tell  us  the  names 
nonTn^/°KM:.     '^r"""'^^'^'  '°"hodox,'  lecturers,  of  reputa- 

nmLt   /,f    A'^'  "'''°"'  "'^  "^y  P''°'^""'e  fo  '^ipe  away  our  re- 
proach. (!)     Can  you  suggest  to  us  the  names  of  some  of  your 


'  « 


'  li 


I 


162    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

New  England  lecturers,  who  would  be  willing  to  come  to  our 
community.  Would  Emerson  and  Parker  come  from  the  Peo- 
ple's course  in  New  York  to  lecture  to  us  ?  Would  Mr.  Sum- 
ner (United  States  Senator)  probably  be  willing  to  come  ?  If 
you  can  come,  Mr.  Mann,  please  give  us  a  list  of  the  themes 
on  which  you  would  lecture,  for  our  consideration  and  selec- 
tion. 

**  Truly  yours, 

**  Austin  Craig." 


As  the  initial  development  of  the  college  began  to  take 
shape,  the  eagerness  of  Mr.  Mann  to  have  the  assistance 
of  the  young  minister  took  ever  a  livelier  form.  Writ- 
ing to  Mr.  Craig  from  West  Newton  on  November  8, 
1852,  he  says : 


"  Last  week  the  first  Faculty  meeting  of  Antioch  College  was 
held  at  my  house.  They  were  here  two  whole  days,  and  parts 
of  the  preceding  and  following.  We  had  a  very  full  and  free 
discussion  on  a  great  variety  of  points,  and  came  most  har- 
moniously to  unanimous  conclusions.  We  have  sketched  a 
provisional^  XioK  finals  course  of  preparatory  and  undergraduate 
studies,  which  I  intend  to  copy  and  send  to  you  for  your  re- 
vision and  suggestions. 

*'I  found  a  most  remarkable  coincidence  of  opinion  and  sen- 
timent among  the  persons  present,  not  only  as  to  theory,  but  in 
practical  matters.  .  .  .  We  were  all  teetotalers ;  all  anti- 
tobacco  men  ;  all  anti-slavery  men  ;  a  majority  of  us  believers 
in  phrenology ;  '  all  anti-emulation  men, — that  is,  all  against 
any  system  of  rewards  and  prizes  designed  to  withdraw  the 
mind  from  a  comparison  of  itself  with  a  standard  of  excellence, 
and  to  substitute  a  rival  for  that  standard.  We  agreed  entirely 
in  regard  to  religious  and  chapel  exercises,  etc.  The  meeting 
was  very  satisfactory,  and  has  raised  my  hopes  very  much  as 
to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  enterprise.     I  can  never,  how- 

*  Phrenology,  as  noted  in  a  previous  chapter,  in  the  sense  here  used 
by  Mr,  Mann  and  Mr.  Craig,  had  a  much  broader  and  deeper  signifi- 
cance than  that  commonly  attributed  to  the  word  to-day. 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN         163 

ever,  sufficiently  regret  that  you  are  not  of  our  number      I 
hope  you  will  be  ere  long. 

"  I  read  to  the  persons  present  a  part  of  your  letter  of  Oc- 
tober 14,  m  which  you  speak  of  a  magazine  for  the  place.  We 
all  exclauned  that  you  were  the  person  to  carry  out  your  own 
idea.  You  must  leave  your  limited  circle  at  Blooming  Grove 
and  speak  to  them,  and  to  all  good  men,  from  Yellow  Springs' 
What  a  wide  sphere  for  your  improving  influence » 

-  You  speak  of  lectures  and  of  my  lecturing.  '  We  have  no 
Orthodox  lecturers  of  any  great  celebrity  amongst  us.  Emer- 
son Whipple  Parker,  T.  S.  King,  Sumner,  Pierpont,  etc.,  are 
all  heretics  of  a  very  malignant  type  when  tried  by  the  Ortho- 
dox standard.  Ihe  truth  is,  the  iron  bars  of  Orthodoxy  do 
not  allow  a  man  to  expand  into  the  qualities  indispensable  for 
touching  the  common  heart  of  men.  Witness  Beecher  and 
Bushnell,  who  reach  the  public  soul  only  because  they  have 
broken  from  their  cage.     ...  ]      ^^ 

'*  Yours  most  truly, 

*'  Horace  Mann." 

-  Your  little  tract  is  admirable.     How  it  would  suit  George 
tSudon  "        ""      ^"^  ^"^  ^"""^  ^''''  """'^  ^'^^  "^^  '^"^^  ^^^  ^^s- 

Soon  after,  the  following  characteristic  letter  was  re- 
ceived  by  Mr.  Mann  : 


"My  dear  Sir  : 

.ketrh  "JT  '^"^''  °^  l^''  "^  '"^'^"f'  a"''  the  enclosed 
Annnrh  L^^  """'"^  of  studies  provisionally  adopted  for 
t^u^X  T'  ^""""^  '°  ^^""^  yesterday.  Our  lecture  com- 
vnnr  I  .  ^f^'^^  arranged  to  publish  an  announcement  of 
vou  hL^UK  '"^'n'^  on  'Great  Britain,'  to  be  given  us  (if 
r  .„  II  K  ^T'^  °"  '^^  ^^^"'"8  °f  Wednesday,  Dec.  8th. 
nCZll  ^  '°  '^^  ^1^  ^^"^  y°"-  ^°'  ™y«elf,  I  will  take 
pleasure  ni  conversing  with  you  on  several  themes,  about  which 

If  SdiLTwtTr-se/youl  "^  '  ""'^  "^^^^''^^  ^'^^  '  ^^^ 


'  K, 


n 


164    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

'*  I  will  endeavour  to  arrange  matters  so  that  you  contract  no 
cold  by  sleeping  in  *a  kind  of  barn-chamber.'  Besides,  our 
cook  is  conscientious,  and  mixes  no  grease  in  her  preparations 
of  potatoes ;  or  if  she  does,  she  gives  honourable  warning  !  Be- 
sides this, — what  is  remarkable, — I  do  not  recollect  that  she 
ever  told  me  the  tea  was  weak,  when  it  was  not  so.  Have  you 
never,  dear  sir,  been  furnished  with  tea  strong  enough  to  make 
your  nerves  wince,  and,  on  complaint  thereof  to  the  presiding 
functionary  of  the  teapot,  been  graciously  consoled  with  the 
/yf  that  her  tea  was  never  made  strong  enough  *  to  hurt '  any- 
body ?  ^ 

"  By  the  way,  is  not  the  bill  of  fare  for  the  refectory  of  Antioch 
College  deserving  of  some  careful  thought  from  the  faculty  ? 
Are  the  cooks  to  have  an  unlimited  jurisdiction  over  the 
stomachs  of  the  students  ?  When  they  pass  from  the  halls  of 
science,  where  they  have  been  regaling  their  better  parts  with 
Longmus  and  Homer,  are  they  to  be  conmiitted  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  '  Pan-theists '  and  ♦  Pot-theists '  who  will  gorge 
them  with  Ohio  pork,  and  drench  them  with  villainous  coffee? 
—I  would  not  vituperate  the  cooks,  though  they  have  uncon- 
sciously done  me  much  harm.  They  may  know  very  well  how 
to  feed  an  Irish  ditcher  ;  but  to  feed  a  Thinker  properly  is  a 
'fine  art,'  and  requires  no  small  knowledge  of  'The  Right 
Use  of  the  Body  in  Relation  to  the  Mind.' 

"  I  would  like  to  see  the  day  when  cookery  will  take  place  as 
a  learned  profession  ;  or,  at  least,  when  it  shall  be  Christian- 
ized. For,  at  present,  as  far  as  I  know,  generally,  the  prin- 
ciples of  cookery  are  horribly  Heathenish.  There  is  no  regard 
whatever  generally  paid  to  the  evangelic  principle,  '  What- 
ever ye  do— whether  ye  eat  or  drink— do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God.'  How  would  that  look  as  a  motto  for  Miss  Leslie's 
book  of  Cookery  ? 

"I  hope  that  the  authorities  of  Antioch  College  will  secure,  if 
possible,  a  sensible  and  conscientious  cook,  who  possesses  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  Physiology  and  Chemistry,  to  know  how  to 
discharge  the  important  functions  entrusted  to  him— or  her. 

**  Your  sincere  friend, 

"Austin  Craig." 


Early  in  January  of  the  following  year  Mr.  Craig  again 
took  up  the  question  of  a  periodical.     His  far-sightedness 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN         165 


and  the  depth  of  his  thought  come  forth  in  this  letter,  as 
well  as  in  the  succeeding  one  : 

''Blooming  Grove,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  14,  1853. 
"  Dear  Mr.  Mann  : 

"  Yours  of  the  8th  instant,  dated  at  Canandaigua,  came 
to  hand  the  day  before  yesterday.  I  was  then  on  my  way  to 
Middletown  to  deliver  a  lecture  before  the  Young  Men's 
Lyceum.     I  embrace  an  early  opportunity  to  reply. 

"  I  am  not  anxious  that  there  should  be  an  organ  of  the  Chris- 
tian denomination  established  in  Yellow  Springs;  though  I  pre- 
suiiie  that  there  will   be.     My  anxiety  is  to  see  an  organ  of 
universal  truthy  *  ?iullius  addictus  jurare  in  verba  magisiri,' 
and  I  care  not  if  its  articles  all  appear  anonymously.     People 
are  so  much  accustomed  to  judge  such  things  by  the  names  of 
the  contributors  and  the  denominational  wing  under  which  it 
is  supposed  to  nestle,  that  I  would  like  to  see  the  publication 
that  1  endeavoured  to  describe  to  you  presented  to  the  public 
free  from  any  sectional  and  party  relation.     So  that  an  acute 
reader  should  not  be  able  to  determine  its  connection  with  any 
party.     Not  omitting  to  have  it  such  that  universal,  harmonious, 
eternal  Truth  may  be  found  on  every  page  of  it  by  such  as 
stck  ic. 

"  Creation  is  a  Cosmos.     Every  fact  in  every  science  stands 
related   to  every  other  fact,  and   to  the  eternal  design  of  the 
Creator.     Isolate  Truth— whether  in  Theologies,  Philosophies, 
or  Sciences,— and  you  emasculate  it.     Consider  Truth— that 
is,  any  fact  in  creation— without  its  innate  reference  and  rela- 
tion to  the  ultimate  design  of  the  universe,  and  you  render  it  a 
dry  husk  which  men  may  share  with  swinish  natures ;  rather 
than   living   bread    for   the   nourishment   of  angelic  natures. 
1  here  is  a  divine  use  in  all  created  things,  and  an  eternal  re- 
lationship established  between  them  all.     The  whole  universe 
IS   one   problem,  namely,  How  to   produce  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  of  beings  like  Jesus  Christ.     All  the   science, 
philosophy,  and  art  of  God  terminates  in  this.     The  manifold 
world  around  us  is  the  means  to  this  end.     Not  a  sun  nor  an 
insect  did  the  Creator  ever  make,  but  because  He  saw  that  His 
great  end  was  otherwise  unattainable.      Our  science  ought  to 
recognize  the  central  principle  of  the  Great  Designer.     How 
can  we  have  a  true  '  Intellectual  System  of  the  Universe,'— a 
genuine  '  Cosmos,'  without  that  ? 


y 


.  I 


166    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

;*I  fear  that  I  cannot  give  my  full  idea  within  the  limits  of 
this  sheet  Indeed,  I  ought  to  confess  that  the  idea  exists 
vague  and  undeveloped  with  me.  Your  perception  and  sym- 
pathy will,— I  doubt  not,— readily  see  about  what  I  mean  or 
ought  to  mean.  Can  we  not  have  such  a  publication  ?  one  in 
which  universal  science  and  art  shall  be  represented  as  per- 

fulfill  Itself  in  the  divinest  product  of  the  creation, -a  perfected 
ooul  of  Man  r 

"  You  must  lead  in  that  matter,  yourself,  Mr.  Mann,— not  in 
the  pecuniary  risks,  or  anything  of  that  kind,_but  in  the  plan 
and  execution.     Gather  to  the  work  true  men  from  any  acces- 
sible quarter      Let  us  have  the  Science  of  Man,  of  Nature,  of 
society,  of  Life,  viewed  in  the  light  and  in  the  spirit  of  that 
serene  position  ;  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God  ' 
I  feel  conscious  that  there  are  laymen  enough  in  our  country 
—men  of  faith  and  light  and  influence,  to  sustain  a  Christian 
movenrient  in  behalf  of  what  is  eternal  and  universal  in  the 
Oospel,  as  distinguished  from  what  is  temporary  and  sectional 
in  human  theologies  and  philosophies.     I  sometimes  meet  such 
men,  and  wonder  at  them  for  not  attempting  somethine      I 
saw  some  such  at  Middletown  recently.     They  seemed  de- 
lighted with  our  unsectarian  views  of  the  Gospel,  and  with  the 
origin  and  aim  of  Antioch  College,— particularly  in  view  of 
your  connection  with  it.     There  must  be  many  such  men  :  and 
honourable  women  not  a  few.'     Can  we  not  have  an  organ 
—a  new  •  Novum  Organon '  to  bring  them  out,  and  represent 
the  many-sided  truth  ever  pointing  inwards  ?     Not  for  these 
few,— few  comparatively,— must  the  work  be  designed  ;   but 
for    'the  common  people.'     The  time  was  when  the  highest 
knowledges  were  written  in  unknown  tongues  for  the  learned 
lew ;  now,  we  are  called  to  present  nobler  knowledges  and  the 
profoundest  generalizations  of  universal  truth  to  /At  teotU  ■ 

rnH''°/^  f  "'■fri"-     "^"^^^  '^  somebody's  mission;  and  "with 
God  s  help  it  will  be  accomplished. 

"  My  opinion  is  that  the  Gospd  H.rald  (a  ■  Christian  '  paper 
now  issued  in  Springfield,  Ohio)  will  be  removed  to  Yellow 
bprings,  and  a  book-concern  established  there.  I  do  not  know 
m.n!-f "  TTu-°,  '■\'^°"™"d  to  you  for  such  a  post  as  you 
tTn,^  w  ^i'"'"''  "'^^  *^  ™"^6^  "^y  f"^"ish  you  one  in  due 
t  m«ln  .h  "^  I'rT'  ^  r^"  f°'  y°"  »°  ^a'ch  the  signs  of  the 
times   in   the  '  Christian '  organs  ?     Shall  I  procure  them  to 


ANTIOCH  AND  HORACE  MANN         167 

be  sent  to  you  ?  I  doubt  not  that  the  publishers  would  freely 
forward  them  to  you.  Or,  do  you  already  receive  them  ?_I 
shall  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  soon  again,  and  frequently. 
Meanwhile,  Farewell, 

"Austin  Craig." 

"Blooming  Grove    Orange  Co.,  N.  K,  Feb.  6,  1853. 
"  To  Hon.  Horace  Mann.  •'■^ 

"  My  dear  Sir  : 

"I  employ  a  portion  of  this  stormy  Sabbath  to  remind 
you  of  the  friendship  cherished  for  you  by  your  humble  corre- 
spondent    and   to  gratify   the   wishes  of  some  of  our  youne 
ladies,  who  have  requested  me  to  enquire  of  you  somewhaf 
particularly  respecting  the  terms  of  admission  and  the  probaMe 
expens^  of  attendance  at  Antioch  College.     There  L  three 
young  ladies  m  this  region,  whom  I  have  heard  speak  wifh 
much  interest  in  the  new  college.     There  may  be  others,-! 
hope  there  will  be.-who  will  go  from  us  to  enjoy  the  ad;an. 
ages  of  a  thorough  training  at  Yellow  Springs.^  The  three 
ladies    before   mentioned   are   earnest,    reformatory,    'strong- 
minded    girls  (I  use  this  phrase  in  a  proper  sense) ;  two  of 
hem  are-from  principle,  I  believe,-' Bloomers.'     VVilUha 
be  an  objection   to  their  admission  ?     One  of  them  aoDlied 
recently  for  admission  to  the  Florida  Seminary  (in  thTs  coTn  yt 
aiHl  was  told  (as  she  informed  me)  that  they  would  gS 
receive  her,  if  she  would  consent  to  adopt  the  ordinary  dress 
lo  this  she  made  answer  that  her  sense  of  self-respeci  wouTd 
prevent  her  from  entermg  the  institution  upon  such  a  condi 
'on.     I  presume  that  there  could  be  no  other  objection  to  her 
admission    than  that  she  wore  the  Bloomer  costume.     Is  that 

Sfl  am  tnT"""  hTk  7''^^^^'^°°'  ^^'  '■°""ded  and  endowed 
(ab  I  am  informed)  by  the  father  of  Wm.  H.  Seward  and  is 
m..ler  the  d,rection,-it  is  said,-of  Senator  Seward     Whefhe 

t  ,?:che"r.?,'h;"''?r''  *^  ?'°°'""  P^°^'^°'  °^  -hetLr 
sllS'l'dott  know.'""  ^"'°"^  "  "P°"  '^^'--  - 

boarS  it"''T  '''  '7  °^J'"'°"  '"  P"pils-of  either  sex- 
boarding  them,selves  in  their  own  rooms,  at  the  college  ?    Some 

mifVlirnVn'^'  'Chiefly  perhaps  from' considerSs  arising 
coild  e,  T  P^?'."'"y   resources.     A   vegetarian   student 

CO  lid  easily  supply  himself  (or  herself)  with  food,  at  less  than 
l>alf  the  cost  of  board  at  the  public  table.     If  the  institutioS 


i 


\\ 


'  ) 


.1         f 

i 


It 


168    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

should  procure  the  cooking,  baking,  washing,  etc.,  done — after 
the  manner  of  the  Mount  Holyoke  School — by  the  members  of 
the  school,  /.  ^.,  by  those  of  the  young  ladies  who  may  be  will- 
ing to  serve  in  this  capacity,  you  would  have  the  cooking  more 
fully  under  your  control  than  when  done  by  hired  persons; 
and  the  cost  of  support  would  be  rendered  lighter  to  many! 
Besides  you  could  render  manual  labour  respected  in  the  insti- 
tution, by  this  method,  perhaps. 

**ln  the  animal  food  put  upon  the  table  of  the  institution,  I 
hope  that  the  disciples  in  Antioch  will  be  Christians  enough  to 
observe  the  Levitical  dietary  law,  in  regard  to  abstinence  from 
fat,  blood,  and  unclean  animals.  For  all  the  swinish  multitude 
—quadruped  or  biped — let  one  irrevocable  sentence  of  ex- 
clusion be  adopted.  Over  the  doors  of  the  refectory,  write, 
*  Procul,  procul,  este  profani  ! '  And  when  you  install  the 
cooks,  I  should  like  to  be  present,  and  deliver  the  'charge.' 
I  think  I  could  preach  pointedly  and  feelingly  on  such  an 
occasion,— say  from  such  a  text  as  the  last  verse  of  '  Zacha- 
riah  '  :— *  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  Judah,  shall  be 
Holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  Hosts:  The  interior  sense  of 
this  passage  (shall  we  say  ?)  is,  that  in  the  good  time  coming, 
the  art  of  cookery  shall  have  reference  to  the  wholesome  prepa- 
ration of  food  for  the  subserviency  of  God-appointed  uses; 
instead  of  ministering  to  luxury  and  animal  indulgence,  as  now. 
Alas  !  how  few  cooking  utensils  there  are,  upon  which  the  motto 
'  Holiness  to  the  Lord,'  would  not  be  sadly  out  of  place  ! 

**Most  respectfully  yours, 

**  Austin  Craig." 


I   I 


Ml 


THE  STRUGGLE 

FOR  several  years,  in  spite  of  incidental  discourage- 
ments, the  affairs  of  Antioch  College  in  general 
progressed  satisfactorily,   though  there  were  in- 
liei-eiit   defects   in    the   plan  of  establishment  and  the 
income  basis  of  the  institution  which  were  bound  to 
cjuise  trouble  at  last.     But  the  president  persisted  with 
unfliiggi ng  zeal  in  his  efforts  to  maintain  the  institution 
at  a  high  degree  of  efficiency.     When,  however,  from 
any  reason  the  outlook  darkened,  he  turned  unfalteringly 
to  the  man  who  had  never  failed  him  in  sympathy  and 
aid,  who  out  of  his  generous  store  was  ever  ready  to 
furnish  help  to  others.     From  more  than  one  point  of 
view  Mr.  Mann  approached  the  young  minister,  with  the 
end  of  drawing  him  to  Antioch  always  uppermost  in  his 
mind.     Now  it  was  the  suggestion  of  larger  service  and 
the  duty  of  entering  in  upon  it ;  now  the  broader  oppor- 
tunities offered  for  self- improvement  and,  as  a  result, 
larger  usefulness ;  now  it  was  Antioch  College  and  its 
future,  the  time  when  Dr.  Craig  should  follow  him  as 
president  of  the  college. 

Indeed,  as  the  days  went  by,  the  quest  became  more 
and  more  spirited,  the  efforts  unflagging.  The  letters 
which  follow  not  only  indicate  this  but  they  show  the 
deeper  nature  of  the  issues  involved.  It  became  a 
struggle  on  the  part  of  one  man  t«  bring  closer  to  his 
aid  one  whom  he  felt  absolutely  indispensable  to  his  own 
bappiness  and  to  the  success  of  the  great  enterprise  which 
had  become  the  passion  of  his  life ;  on  the  part  of  the 

169 


^ 


170    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

other,  a  struggle  iu  which  love  for  his  frieud,  obligation 
to  his  people,  iiucertainty  as  to  his  lituess  for  the  place, 
and  doubts  as  to  whether  or  not  his  life  would  be  short- 
ened, constantly  perplexed  and  harassed.  Now  and  then 
Mr.  Mann  essiiyed  a  tactful  approach,— though  never 
aught  but  sincerity  itself,— as  witness  the  followiutr 
letter :  ^ 


1 


^'iVashingion,  Feb.  26,  18^7. 
'* My  DEAR  Mr.  Craig:  *     ^^ 

"  Can  a  clergyman,  located  sixty  miles  out  of  a  city,  sit- 
tnig  in  his  manse,  with  hardly  a  sound  about  him  save  the 
l)leasant  ones  of  waving  trees  or  flowing  waters,  understand  the 
hounded,  badgered,  tormented,  fragmentary  life  of  an  M.  C.  in 
Washington?  If  he  can,  then  1  need  make  no  apology  for  so 
long  delaying  to  answer  your  late  letter.  U  he  cannot,  then 
though  innocent,  I  must  be  convicted.  ' 

"  The  course  of  i)reparatory  and  undergraduate  studies  for  the 
college  has  not  yet  been  definitely  determined.  I  sent  you  a 
provisional  one.  A  meeting  is  called,  at  my  house  in  West 
Newton,  for  the  23d  of  next  month.     .     .     . 

*' A  well-balanced  mind  graduates  all  the  affairs  and  interests 
of  life  on  a  scale  according  to  their  relative  importance ;  and 
though  young  |)eo[)le,  and  imperfectly  educated  people,  put 
some  things  high  up  on  this  scale  which  ought  to  be  low  down, 
and  vice  versa,  yet,  as  they  grow  wiser,  they  are  constantly  re- 
arranging them,  and  conforming  the  order  of  caprice  or  mis- 
education  to  the  standard  of  nature.  A  well  developed  mind 
and  heart  is  the  only  remedy  for  youthful  vagaries  of 
fancy. 

"I  presume  no  one  will  be  compelled  to  board  at  the  com- 
mon table.  ...  My  observation,  however,  has  convinced 
me  that  serious  evils  are  likely  to  grow  out  of  the  self-subsisting 
method.  It  IS  usually  adopted  by  those  in  straitened  circum- 
stances. 

*;  The  desire  of  economy,  added  to  the  inconveniences  of  pre- 
paring food,  make  too  strong  a  temptation  to  live  meagrely. 
Now,  the  philosophy  of  living,  as  you  know,  is  to  make  strength 
out  of  food.  \y  hat  ran  poor  nature  do  when  her  supplies  are 
cut  ofl  ;  when,  like  the  inhabitants  of  a  beseiged  city,  or  mariners 
on  a  wreck,  she  is  put  on  the  shortest  living  allowance  ?     There 


THE  STRUGGLE 


171 


is  a  fatal  seduction  about  this,  too,  to  ambitious  tempera- 
ments. It  gives  a  preternatural  vivacity  and  activity  to  the 
faculties,  which  the  deluded  victim  mistakes  for  strength.  But 
its  end  is  weakness,  exhaustion,  and  premature  decay.  I  know 
some  temperaments  will  bear  this  much  better  than  others. 
Unfortunately,  those  to  whom  it  would  be  most  injurious  are 
most  readily  decoyed  into  it.  As  I  grow  older  (may  I  hope 
wiser)  1  find  my  former  contempt  and  neglect  of  the  thoracic 
and  abdominal  viscera,— or,  to  speak  it  plainly,  of  lungs  and 
belly,— gradually  changing  into  a  kind  of  respect,  not  to  say 
homage ;  not,  however,  as  I  certainly  need  not  tell  you,  as  the 
dii  majores  of  my  regard,  but  as  the  dii  w/«^r^j,— without 
whose  help  the  upper  deities  of  the  brain  are  as  helpless  as  a 
commodore  without  crew  to  work  his  ship.  The  calamity  is 
that  there  is  such  infinite  ignorance  about  the  rules  of  health 
and  life  among  our  people,  that  the  kind,  the  quality,  and  the 
amount  of  food  which  people  consume  are  determined  by  every 
conceivable  consideration  except  the  right  ones. 

"  Of  course,  the  very  object  of  the  preparatory  school  is  to  fit 
Its  attendants  for  admission  into  the  college.  At  first,  this  pre- 
paratory school  will  be  our  stock  in  trade,— the  only  thing  out 
of  which  we  can  make  capital.  With  our  Eastern  teachers,  the 
Pennells,  brother  and  sister,  if  we  do  not  have  an  unusual  kind 
of  school  for  that  latitude,  I  shall  be  disappointed. 

"And  so  you  recur  again  (and  I  like  to  read  what  you  so 
wisely  and  with  such  simplicity  say)  to  the  subject  of  a  press 
One  thing  only  you  omit.  You  speak  admirably  of  an  effect  • 
but  where  is  your  cause  /—of  a  paper ;  but  where  is  your 
editor  ?  A  glorious  invention,  you  know,  the  Frenchman  had 
for  preventing  the  ravages  of  city  fires ;  but  when  the  confla- 
gration came,  he  had  only  a  specimen  of  it  in  a  phial. 

"  Where  is  the  man  to  conduct  such  a  paper  ?  That  is  the 
'main  question'  by  a  higher  title  than  any  parliamentary 
lavy  I  have  pleaded  with  you  to  go.  Oh,  no  !  you  are  too 
vvell  situated  with  the  young  people  whom  you  love,  and  with 
the  old  people  who  love  you.  As  for  myself,  if  there  are  half 
as  many  pupils  there  as  some  of  your  sanguine  coadjutors  expect, 
1  shall  need  a  hundred  heads,  as  well  as  a  hundred  hands,  to 
meet  the  daily  demand  upon  labour  and  thought. 

"  When,  in  my  younger  legislative  days,  I  projected  a  hospital 
lor  the  insane,  and  carried  it  through  our  Legislature  unas- 
sisted, and  agamst  great  opposition,  the  governor,  on  whom 


i  1' 


'I 


172    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

devolved  the  appointment  of  commissioners,  sent  for  me,  and 
told  me  he  should  appoint  me  (young  as  I  then  was)  chairman  of 
the  Board.  I  remonstrated.  '  No,' said  he:  *  you  have  got 
us  into  this  scrape,  and  you  must  get  us  out.'  What  shall  I 
say  to  the  Rev.  Austin  Craig  of  Blooming  Grove,  New  York  ? 
**  And  now,  my  dear  sir,  to  whom  have  I  given  so  much  time 
as  to  you  ?  And  if  anybody  upbraids  me  for  this,  have  I  not 
full  justification  in  being  able  to  say,  no  one  deserves  it  so  much 
as  you? 

**  As  ever,  most  truly  yours, 

**  Horace  Mann." 


In  answer  Mr.  Craig  wrote  most  earnestly  from  his  deep 
heart: 

*^  Blooming  Grove ^  N.  V.,  March  /,  1853, 
•*Dear  Mr.  Mann  : 

**  To-day's  mail  brings  to  my  hand  your  welcome  letter  of 
the  26th  ultimo  :  and  I  should  be  lacking  in  that  affectionate 
regard  which  I  am  happy  to  entertain  for  you,  if  I  did  not 
earnestly  express  to  you  the  pleasure  which  the  receipt  of  your 
two  sheets  gave  me ;  penned,  though  they  were,  during  the 
closing  days  of  an  official  life  which  my  friend  denominates 
'hounded,  badgered,  tormented,  fragmentary.' — The  more 
gratitude  1  should  feel,  and  do  feel,  that  amid  your  harassing 
official  cares,  you  have  found  time  to  favour  me  with  so  long  a 
letter. 

**  The  full  and  explicit  statements  made  by  you  in  answer  to  my 
several  enquiries,  leave  me  nothing  more  to  seek  on  those  heads, 
at  present. 

**  You  must  pardon  me,  my  dear  Sir,  for  recurring  so  often  to 
that  matter  of  the  Press— the  Antioch  Press.  I  regard  the 
establishment  of  a  tract-publication  office  at  'Antioch,'  as  a 
matter  that  must  be.— In  plain  English,  Mr.  Mann,  the  Chris- 
tian denomination  has  no  literary  and  scientific  character.  All 
that  is  to  be  formed.  It  is  new,  virgin  soil,  that  you  are  to 
cultivate  in  your  new  position.  You  will  find  our  ministers 
and  people  very  receptive  (so  is  my  conviction,  at  least),  and  I 
am  persuaded  that  your  influence  outside  the  sphere  of  your 
professional  relations  to  the  denomination,  might  easily  equal 
that  which  you  will  exert  as  President  of  the  institution. 


THE  STRUGGLE  173 

-  Permit  me  to  say  to  you,  privately,  that  you  will  naturally  be 
considered  and  treated  by  the  ministry  of  the  connexion    as  a 
knid  of  bishop,  or  grand-patriarch  of  our  order.  J-TOs  is  bu^ 
my  opmion    of  course.     Now,  you  will  not  consider  it  amiss 
trust,  If  I  say  to  you  that  among  our  ministers  you  wiU  find 
few  educated  men;   you  will  find  many  who  entert^ain  views  of 
cchication,  and   employ   methods   of  advancing   ChriZn  ty 
wh.ch   you  would  disapprove.     Nevertheless,  I  am   confidenl 
that  they  will  incline  to  reverence  your  suggestions,  as  perhaps 
no  man  among  us  could  be  reverenced.''    They  vill  gCyfn 
you  as  a  denominational  possession,  some  of  them  •  bu   don'^ 
mind  that,   Mr.  Mann.     One  of  this  class,  a  mTn  ster   some 
days  ago,  said  to  me  that  he  had  learned  ^u  were  pTrS 
to  be  immersed   and  to  come  into  full  communion  wi^h  us      f 
told   him   that    I   entertained    no  doubt  you  would  obey  the 
promptmg  of  duty,  as  you  should  at  anytime  underS  it 
and  as  for;  communion,'  that  I  believed  you  had  long  been 
in  communion  with  Christ;  which,  of  course,  makes  you^inLn 
communion  with  us  :  he  assented  presently 

"  Will  you  permit  me  to  urge  you  to  attend  the  conferences  of 
our  ministers  as  frequently  as  you  can  ?  You  will  STain 
their  confidence  and  regard.  ^  ^ 

V 'n  ^^  T  '^^'^  '^^  ^^^  "^"'^  h^^^  ^  P^^ss,  and  Tract-office  at 
Yellow  Springs;  I  think  it  will  be.  And  you  must  be  H.. 
editor  of  the  magazine,  Mr.  Mann.     Your  name  must      yJu 

10  a^d  72/r^  of  Education,  Physical.  Me'tat  ReTj" 
ous  .  and  it  will  be  new  to  the  great  bulk  of  our  oeonlp      r 

S  ""would  r""   'T  "  •"'^"'  C°-''^'^  '  ConstKon  o 

u       vm  .   "°'"'  u°  T'^  "^*"  half  the  ministers  among 
US.— Yes,  much  more  than  half  «i"*uijg 

the' eSiSmX'/'  ^K  ^'""'  ^.""'  ^"""g.-i"  the  event  of 

toLe  T.  ? ?        ^"^  ""  "'agazine  as  I  have  described  here- 

olore  -to  put  my  pen   under  pledge  to   you   for  all  the  aid 

be  heart v>vhl  ,'°  ^°°'^.*"  ^'""prise.     My  help  would 

De  ^hearty,  whatever  else  m.ght,  or  might  not  be  predicable 

m"ti  \"T'  u^""-  '^^^""'  ^^^^  yo"  'Iiave  pleaded  '  with  me  to 
plea  anitv  ^^'  /l'^  ^  "^'^^  ^^'^""'^'^-  "  '^  '-^  'hit  a^° 
Sans  mo  ^nf  ''T  '"T  °""  <^'^^Syn.an  in  a  hundred, 
has  at  t^mT  P'f 'f  "y--the  very  pleasantness  of  the  position 
has  at  times  weighed  oppressively  upon  me.     But  I  do  not  fee 


:^.-l! 


m 


\'H' 


'H 


174    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

conscious  of  having  declined  the  post  at  Antioch,  solely  on  this 
ground.  1  assure  you,  Mr.  Mann,  that  I  feel  incompetent  to 
undertake  any  duties  more  onerous  and  responsible  than  those 
connected  with  my  present  position.  I  should  feel  a  hesitancy 
about  going  to  Antioch,  until  I  have  some  more  distinctly  rec- 
ognized '  call  '  from  the  Master,  than  I  have  yet  had.  I  am 
not  superstitious ;  but  think  that  the  way  should  seem  open  and 
clear  to  any  one,  before  he  permits  himself  to  assume  large  re- 
sponsibilities. 

*'  I  am,  to  some  extent,  a  weak  and  enervated  man,  although 
just  upon  the  threshold  of  Life.  Physical  development,  I 
never  had.  A  full,  noble,  manly,  Christian  development,  I 
scarce  expect  to  attain  this  side  the  Great  Change.  Meanwhile, 
with  such  fragmentary  attainments  as  much  weakness  and  the 
few  uncertain  years  before  me  allow,  I  am  labouring  (not  with 
satisfactory  faithfulness,  nor  near  it)  in  a  field  sufficiently 
extensive  to  tax  to  their  utmost  all  my  capacities  and  strength. 
Please  regard  kindly  these  personal  statements,  and  accept  as- 
surances of  the  warm  regard  of  one  who  is  happy  to  subscribe 
himself,  Your  friend, 

**  Austin  Craig.*' 

The  following  letters  develop  new  phases  of  the  pur- 
suit 

"  Yellow  Springs,  June  i6, 18^4. 
'*  Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Craig  : 

"  I  received,  in  due  course  of  mail,  yours  of  May  7th. 
To  that  part  of  it  which  related  to  your  health,  let  me  say  that 
I  am  rejoiced  to  know  that  a  clergyman  is  recognizing  and 
obeying  the  laws  of  health,  and  performing  the  first  steps  in 
the  regeneration  of  the  race ;  that  is,  their  physical  reforma- 
tion. You  honour  philosophy  and  religion  alike  by  so  doing, 
and  enroll  yourself  in  the  new  school  and  among  the  new  lights. 
"  I  ought  not  entirely  to  omit,  and  yet  how  can  I  properly 
notice,  that  part  of  your  letter  in  which  you  refer  to  the 
*  Inaugural  '  ?  I  never  wrote  anything  that  seemed  to  me  to 
fall  so  far  short  of  what  should  be  said  on  the  theme  therein 
discussed.  Your  partiality  alone  makes  you  speak  of  it  kindly : 
and  yet  I  love  to  be  commended,  even  for  such  a  reason  ;  that 
is,  by  such  a  man. 

**  But,  my  dear  sir,  I  sat  down  this  time  to  make  love  to  you  1 


THE  STRUGGLE 


175 


Do  not  be  alarmed.  I  am  serious  and  literal  !  I  must  woo 
you ;  and  nobody  could  woo  who  did  not  hope  to  win 

r^^  .K  •  Z'  n  ^^^}^y^J^''  has  preached  to  the  Christian 
Church  in  this  village  for  the  last  few  years,  has  just  resigned! 
They  are  looking  for  a  successor.     Yesterday  the  committed 

ofbut  vouT  "\T'^'     '?""^  ^""^^  ^  ^P^^^  «^  think 

of  but  you  ?  ...  If  your  right  ear  did  not  burn,  there  is 
no  truth  in  signs.  ' 

"And  now,  my  dear  sir,  you  want  to  do  good.     That  is 
your  divinely  appointed  mission.     Where  else  can  you  reach 
and  help  to  fashion  three,  four,  five,  or  perhaps  six  hundred 
growing  mmds   and  fashion  them  after  your  idea  of  the  image 
of  Chn.t  ?     There  never  was  such  an  opening  for  you  :  thefe 
may  never  be  such  another.     Were  I  a  believer  in  sVecial 
providences,   I   should    think   this   had    all    the  signatures  of 
genuineness.     We  have  a  paper  here,    the    Gospfl  Herald- 
where  else  can  you  better  write?     We  shall  have  a  library  •' 
vvhere  else  can  you  better  study  ?     We  are  students  of  eartWy 
lore:    will   you  not  infuse  the  heavenly?     We  are  amon/ a 
i"I' uses"?"^  P^^P^^ '  -i"  y^-  not  make  them  sanctify  monej 

"Re-preaching  your  sermons  will  give  you  a  ^reat  deal  nf 
time  for  other  services.  Everything^  says?"  Come  '  '  The 
Spirit  and  the  Bride  say,  Come  '  ^^ 

"  The  people  here  are  favourable  to  extempore  strmons  •  that 

'*  Yours  as  ever, 

'*  Horace  Mann." 

"Mr.  U.J' ■^''"""'"'  ^'-'^''  ^-  ^-  S^P^"»l"r4,  1854. 
"My  dear  Friend: 

JuL^""  f"*'°"'  ?  ^^"^  y""  f""y  understand  my  views  and 

'  uJow'''/h  u'  r^'''' '''  °"'  '^""t  correspondence 
in.   GrZ     ^^  ^"^  ^^'^' ''™'  °^  "^y  engagement  to  the  Bloom- 
oriio,  «?   <^°"f  e?2t.on     to  give   them   six   months'   not>?e 
previous  to  my  leavmg  them  voluntarily.     I  could  not,  ther^ 


176    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

fore,  come  to  Yellow  Springs  (if  at  all)  before  the  middle  of 
next  spring.  Again  :  I  am  unwilling  to  enter  into  an  en- 
gagement which  may  require  me  to  preach  more  than  one 
regular  sermon  a  week.  Of  course,  occasionals  are  excepted 
And  I  would  stipulate  for  a  vacation  of  two  months,— July  and 
August.  I  suppose  that  these  conditions  would  be  unsatisfac- 
tory to  the  society  in  your  place.  The  *  Christians,'  as  I  have 
known  them,  like  to  have  several  sermons  a  week.  I  have  twice 
been  under  engagements  to  '  Christian  '  churches,  and  in  both 
instances  found  it  customary  to  have  three  regular  preaching, 
services  a  Sunday.  Possibly,  two  may  be  the  general  rule  with 
them  ;  but  two  sermons  a  week,  I  would  not  be  willing  to  prom- 
ise  in  any  place  where  I  should  settle  with  a  view  to  continu- 
ance. 

'*  It  occurs  to  me  to  state  that  another  difficulty  might  be 
found  m  the  fact  that  I  am  not— what  among  the  '  Christians ' 
IS  sometimes  called— '  a  denominational  man.'     I  have  no  de- 
nominational  attachments— as  such.      I   am   unwilling  to  be 
known  as  a  Christian   in  any  other  sense  than  that  which  the 
people  of  God  everywhere  acknowledge.     Now,  it  is  my  opinion 
that  It  will  be  deemed  desirable  to  secure  for  the  Yellow  Springs 
church  some  minister  who  may  be  fairly  regarded  as  a  represent- 
ative of  the  Christian  denomination.     If  so,  I  can  by  no  means 
be  the  man.      I  have  no  heart  to  preach  about  Trinity;  nor  to 
occupy  myself  and  my  hearers  with  sect-dogma-controversial- 
isms.     I    quite    ignore    those    things.      I    am    concerned   to 
present  the  claims  of  Christ  as  the  Redeemer,  Life  and  Lord 
of  man;  and  to  show  the  applicability  of  Christ's  spirit  to  all 
our  human   conditions,  pursuits   and  interests.     I  do  not  even 
look  upon  the  Christian  denomination  as  embodying  the* great 
movement  of  the  nineteenth   century.' (!)     It  is  not  unlikely 
that  I  should   preach   year  after   year  without  mentioning  the 
denomination    at   all.     I    have    so    done;    and    might   again 
Now,  judge    for   yourself,    my  dear   friend,   whether  such  a 
course  would  not  be  likely  to  lead   to  heart-burnings  and  em- 
broilments, in  case  I  should  be  '  settled  '  with  the  Christian 
society  in  Yellow  Springs. 

''  My  present  hope  and  purpose  is  to  pass  the  winter  in  a 
more  genial  latitude,  and  in  freedom  from  the  labours  of  the 
pastoral  office.  I  feel  worn-down,— preached-out— almost  : 
weakened  in  body  and  in  mind.  I  must  keep  Sabbath  a  while. 
Ministers  get  no  Sabbath,  who  constantly  preach  on  Sundays, 


THE  STRUGGLE 


177 


and  are  ever  a-stretch  to  think  what  is  next  to  be  said  I  mean 
to  he  fallow  a  while;  hoping  to  increase  the  future  productive 
capacities  of  the  soul-soil  by  so  doing.  On  several  accounts  I 
feel  sad  in  view  of  the  present  unlikelihood  of  my  seeing  vou 
this  autumn;  but  I  believe  it  is  best  so,  according  to  mv  pres- 
ent light.  °  ^  ^ 

-I  hope  you  will  consider  kindly  the  letters  which  I  have 
recently  written  you.  Do  not  think  me  light-minded  and 
trivial  because  in  some  of  them  I  have  expressed  the  hope  of 
visiting  you  and  preaching  to  the  society ;  while  in  this  a  con- 
trary purpose  IS  announced.  I  am  not  as  vigorous  in  health 
nor  as  buoyant  in  spirit,  as  when  I  wrote  you  early  in  the  past 
summer.  I  feel  now  that  I  must  not  think  of  coming  to  Yel- 
low Springs.  ° 

-But  I  cherish  the  cheerful  hope  that  (as  you  have  said) 
we  shall  be  brought  together  at  last ! '     The  merciful  God 
grant  it  !     Not  h^r,,  perhaps  ;  but  there  /  what  myriads  shall  be 
made  happy  in   that   meeting  !-Ransomed  souls  in  glorious 
bodies   and  full  of  immortal  energies  !     A  ransomed  Universe 
fit  in  all  Its  agencies  to  aid  the  efforts  of  God's  children  in  their 
endless  advance  in  wisdom,  love  and  joy  !     The  inspiration  of 
Riul  rises  to  its  sublimest  strain  over  <  the  general  assembly  and 
church    of     the    first-born,    which   are   written    in    heaven  ' 
(Hebrews   12:    22-24).     And   one   could   almost  fancy  that 
Cicero  had  a  glimpse  of  the  glorious  Family  of  God  when  he 
penned   these   noble  words  :-<0  pr^clarum   diem,   cum  ad 
illud    divinum     animorum   concilium    coetumque    proficiscar 
cumq^u^e  ex  hac  turba  et  colluvione  discedam  !  '   (De^SeneS 

"Please  write  me  at  your  convenience  ;  and  believe  me, 

''Yours  most  truly, 

"Austin  Craig." 


"  Rev.  Aust,n  Craig.       "  '''"'""  ^^'''"'''  ^^'^  '°>  '^^*- 
"My  DEAR  Sir: 

,r.A  V   "  \  '■^'^^^^d  your  'etter  of  the  4th  inst.  on  Saturday 

t  sestTav  T  "  '"°  ^''''  ""^r^  '°  '^■^'°-^  by  reflection  th'e 
m?LT^  V   ^"^«'^""§  "•     But  my  reflections  have  done  me 

I  am  «H     r  T^  '^i^  ^'''"  >°"  ^'°*^  it,-morbidly  so ;  and 
1  am  sad  when  I  read  it  or  think  of  it.     You  magnify  your 


fiilfi 


ll|! 


178     LIFE  AND  LETTEKiS  OF  ALbTlN  CRAIG 

duties;  and  then  you  change  the  telescope,  end  for  end,  to 
look  at  your  ability  to  perform  them. 

"The  idea  that  it  was  possible  and  probable  that  you  would 
come  here  has  occupied  my  mind  for  several  weeks  past.  The 
anticipated  influence  you  would  exert  on  our  young  men  and 
maidens  has  filled  me  with  joy  ;  and  when,  last  week,  they 
came  togeilier  at  the  beginning  of  our  term,  to  the  number  of 
about  four  hundred,  I  assure  you  it  was  with  very  vivid  delight 
that  1  looked  forward  to  the  influence  of  your  spirit  among 
them.  Was  there  ever  a  more  inviting  field  ?  With  your 
eager  desire  to  stamp  the  spirit  of  Christ  upon  the  human 
heart,  were  there  ever,  or  will  there  ever  be,  more  hearts,  or 
more  susceptible  ones,  than  these,  on  which  to  make  the  im- 
press?    .     .     . 

'♦  I  thought,  too,  that  your  duties  would  be  light  here.  You 
could  turn  the  old  barrel  of  sermons  over,  and  begin  at  the 
other  end.  1  think  the  people  here  would  want  to  see  you 
pretty  often  in  the  church  ;  but  one  of  your  sermons  would 
make  forty  such  as  they  have  been  accustomed  to  hear. 

*•  My  dear  friend,  I  fear  the  wind  was  east  when  you  wrote 
that  letter.  Do  not  disappoint  us.  Professor  Holmes  is  de- 
lighted at  the  idea  of  your  coming  ;  so  are  others.  As  to  ex- 
ternal attractions,  we  have  but  few  ;  but  for  one  who  lives  so 
much  as  you  do  in  the  region  of  the  heart,  and  who  wishes  to 
enlarge  that  region,  1  know  of  no  place  for  you  so  suitable  as 
this.  Farewell,  my  friend  ! 

"  Horace  Mann." 

**  Yellow  Springs  J  Oct.  26^  18^4* 
"Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Craig  : 

•*  I  cannot  tell  you,  my  dear  friend,  how  much  all  the 
more  reflecting  people  here  were  delighted  with  your  visit.  I 
think  you  gave  many  of  them  a  new  idea  of  the  function  of  an 
ambassador  of  Jesus  Christ.     .      .     . 

"  But  those  whose  hearts  are  earnest  for  the  religious  growth 
of  the  place,  and  the  most  subduing  influences  upon  the  un- 
tamed spirits  of  the  youth  who  resort  here  for  education,  will 
never  surrender  the  hope  of  having  you  here.  I  exhort  you, 
therefore,  to  hold  yourself  in  readiness,  that,  when  the  time 
comes,  you  may  be  translated  here  as  quickly  as  Elijah  was  into 
heaven.     .     ,     .  Yours  as  ever,  most  truly, 

"Horace  Mann." 


THE  STRUGGLE  179 

In  April  of  the  followiog  year,  1855,  Mr.  Mann,  recog- 
nizing the  great  talent  for  teaching  which  was  so  con- 
spicuous a  part  of  Mr.  Craig's  many-sided  endowment 
and  recognizing,  too,  the  substantial  basis  of  this  talent' 
laid  on  the  wide  foundation  of  Greek  literature  and 
thought,  wrote  several  letters  to  Mr.  Craig  at  Bloominir 
Grove.  They  are  full  of  the  tokens  of  the  deep  insight 
Mr.  Mann  haxi  into  the  nature  and  character  of  the  man 
he  so  much  loved,  while  the  answers  to  them  have  vital 
human  interest. 

••  Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Cra,g  :    "  ^'"'""  ^^""'''  ^^'"^^  '^S5. 

"  I  wish  to  write  a  long  letter  to  you,  but  have  hardlv 
t,me  to  wnte  a  short  one.  The  absence  of  Mr  H—tl 
know.  All  our  thoughts  turned  at  once  to  you.  But  I  knew 
t^ried  Dr^T.'ir"ff  V""'  ^'^^  ^''^  the  beautiful  name  We 
wnt  f^  ^  t         =   ^^  """°'  ^°"'^-     ^^e  have  made  arrange- 

S  e  chs    i'n  V"'l'"'  '""''  "°'  '"  ^"  ^«P«c'«  satisfactof;. 
One  class  m  Greek  .s  postponed,  which  I  do  not  like ;  and 

fe  ibe^~f;  :  !/  °"r  •  ^^  ^T'  ^  '^^^^er  for  next  Sep 
touber.  It  s  a/most  six  months.  You  can  fill  that  nlace 
Your  general  culture,  your  acquaintance  with  Greek  thou^t' 
JaZfo^ThtSt'""  Greek  philology,  indeed,  fityou  ad-i' 
shoSd  b  '    Twould  take-  vouTr°' ':"  ^°"  ^ow  delighted  I 

"  Ever  and  truly  yours, 

**  Horace  Mann." 

'■  Mv  D.AR  FR,;;sriASr  ""■  ""■' ""''""'  ''''■ 

my  pockei  vesUrH  '^^'1°'  '^T'-  ^"'^  ^  ^''^"-^^^  ^"^^'°Pe  into 
for  a  n.H  J^^^^'^'^y'  ^'^^n.  'e'lvmg  my  own  house,  I  started 

£an  Jnen  I'nn"  '  '°  ^^'  "^"  '''^^''  ^^ere.  no;,  with  a 
strange  pen  and  at  a  writing-table  not  my  own,  my  thouehts  ea 
forth  most  cordially  towards  you  and  yours  ^      ^ 

sentimen'/c  »""""  '^"''  "'"^  ^°'  the  very  kind  and  confiding 
sentiments  expressed  towards  me,  in  your  letter  dated  the  3d 


'•it 

1 


180    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CEAIG 

inst  Be  assured,  my  dear  sir,  that  your  flattering  and  kindlv 
words  could  not  afford  me  the  gratification  they  do,  if  I  did 
not  most  highly  esteem  and  affectionately  regard  the  writer  of 

J' I  will  come  now  to  the  question  proposed  in  your  letter 
bhal    I  go  to  '  Antioch,'  or  stay  in  Blooming  Grove?     Let  ui 
we,gh  the  matter.      You,  if  you  please,   hold  the  scales  and 
observe  the  libration,  while  I  arrange  the  weights  and  counter- 
poises. ° 

;;  ^  have  now  been  four  years  in  this  place  ;-have  taken  root 
rather  firmly ;  feel  more  at  home  than  ever  before,  and  more 
1  think,  than   I  ever  expected   to  feel  anywheres;  am  prettv 
well  known  among  my  parishioners,  and  in  the  region  around 
me;  can  preach  more  effectively  than  1  could  anywhere  else 
until  a  corresponding  lapse  of  time  should  afford  me  an  equai 
degree  of  intimacy  with  the  people.     I  even  doubt  that  I  should 
be  able  to  become  as  familiarly  acquainted  in  the  same  length 
of  time,  as   1   have  in   this  place;    for  within  a  twelvemonth 
past  1  seem  to  have  been  losing  my  readiness  to  visit  and  form 
acquaintances    among    the    people-and    personal    intercourse 
seems  necessary  between  minister  and  people,  in  order  to  the 
best  condition  of  a  society.     To  sum  this  in  a  few  words,  it 
seems  to  me  that  as  1  am  now  situated  and  known  here,  I  can 
do  an  equal  amount  of  benefit  by  my  labours  here,  with  con- 
siderably less  expenditure  of  time  and  strength  than  would  be 
necessary  to  the  same  amount  of  influence  in  a  new  place     Mv 
limited  strength,  and   my  occasional  fears  of  failing  health 
make  me  think  that  to  remain  rooted  (and  propped  a  little)  in 
this  soil,  is  safer  on  many  accounts  than  to  become  unrooted 
and  by  transplantation  to  a  new  field  (or  even  nursery)  to  incur 
the  risk  of  being  unable  to  get  firmly  rooted  again  in  time  to 
yield  an  autumnal  fruitage.     1  almost  shudder  at  the  thought 
ot  having  again  to  pass  through  all  the  preliminary  acquaint- 
ance-makings and  mind-measurings  and  uncertainties  incident 
to  the  settling  anew  in  the  pastoral  relations.     I  may  add  to 
these  considerations  that  I  am  here  settled  with  a  reasonable 
pecuniary  provision   for   my  present   needs,   and   a  satisfying 
prospect  for  such  future  time  as  I  may  be  able  to  remain  here 
and  may  choose  to  do  so.     I  might  add  that  I  should  consult 
the  wishes  of  my  parents  rather  in  removing  nearer  them,  than 
in  going  a  comparatively  much  greater  distance  from  them. 
AS  tor  a  distinctly  perceived  and  keenly  felt  sense  of  duty  (or 


THE  STRUGGLE 


181 


divine    'call')  directing  me   in   this   matter,  I  have  it  not. 
Need  I  say  more  ?  Most  truly  yours, 

'*  Austin  Craig." 


"  ^^^^^^  ^P^tTtgs,  April  z/,  1853. 
" My  dear  Mr.  Craig  :  ^        t^     jj 

'*lf  I  thought  you  had  at  last  taken  the  position  of  a 
final,  irrevocable  denial  and  refusal  ever  to  join  your  fortunes 
with  ours,  and  help  us  to  carry  on  the  great  work  here  begun 
I  should  submit  to  my  sad  fate  as  well  as  I  could,  abate  a 
great  portion  of  my  hopes,  and  labour  with  my  might  for  the 
fulfillment  of  the  rest. 

"  In  reference  to  the  arguments  for  remaining  where  you 
are,  or  coming  here,  you  say  that  I  may  hold  the  scales  while 
you  put  in  the  weights.  But,  my  dear  sir,  may  I  not  also  see 
whether  the  weights  are  correctly  or  erroneously  marked  ?  If 
you  put  in  platinum,  and  call  it  feathers,  or  feathers,  and  call 
It  platinum,  may  I  not  point  out  the  mistake,  and  remonstrate 
against  it?  Otherwise  how  am  I  better  than  any  peg  or  hook 
from  which  to  suspend  them  ? 

"  Now,  have  you  not  made  a  mistake  something  like  this— 
quite  like  it — in  relation  to  the  '  weights  *  ? 

"In  regard  to  health,  would  not  our  milder  climate  be  more 
congenial  to  your  lungs  than  the  butcherly  blasts  of  the  High- 
lands ?  ^ 

"  In  regard  to  society,  you  know  that  your  nature  yearns 
towards  the  young ;  that,  reckoning  from  fossil  old  age  down 
to  indurated  manhood  and  to  irrepressible  youth,  the  fervour 
of  your  affections,  the  vivacity  of  your  love,  increase  far  more 
than  in  the  ratio  that  the  squares  of  the  distance  diminish 

"In  regard  to  intellectual   companionship,  you  know  that 

you  are  now  just  as  solitary   as  you  would  be  on  the  top  of 

Mont  Blanc.     Nobody  comes  up  to  your  altitude  intellectually. 

\  ou   may  pursue  your  studies   there  ;    you  may  become  very 

learned  and  wise  :   but  it  will  not  be  that  better  sort  of  wisdom 

which  is  found   by  study  and    contemplation,   blended   with 

communion  with   men.     The  wisdom  of  the  recluse  is  a  very 

ditterent  thing  from  that  of  the  practical  moralist  or  statesman 

I^o^v,  although   we  cannot  supply  you  with  many  intellectual 

companions  here  at  present,    yet  by  and  by  I  hope  it  will  be 

otherwise. 

''  In  regard  to  the  good  that  you  can  do,  I  must  protest  that 


i 


11! 


.1 


182    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

I   never   saw  such   false   weights   used   in  all  my  life  before 
Why,   seriously  and  solemnly,  had  you  done  this  in  old  times' 
when   barbarous  punishments  were  resorted  to,  I  should  have 
been   afraid  for   your  ears;    that   is,    your  m.aphyTaf^^^ 
You  must  know,  and   do  know,   that' whatever  Smvou 
have    or  have  not,  you  do  ream  n.ore  of  the  purity  and  sim 
phc.  y  and  mnocence  of  childhood  than  almost  any  other  mLn 
and  therefore  are  divinely  fitted   to  sympathize  ,^tli  the  yS 
while  you  instruct  them,-to  go  down  to  the  lowliness  wherf 

™Ses1r'^  r/ts  "  "^'  "'•^"^  "  ^°"^  ^^'■^•''-     '  '^i  '°- 
"  As  for  labour,— ministerial  labour,— you  have  now  a  ereai 
storehouse  of  thoughts,    more  or  less  perfected     what  bette 
could  you  do,  either  for  yourself  or  for  others   than  to  rev    w 
them,    and   give   them,    with    the   improvements  of  a  secon 

'  ButThat"  "^''^""^  '^.'^°"^  =""^  enhancing  benefits  "" 
But  what  we  want  now  in  the  college  is  a  teacher  in  Greet 
for  the  coming  year.  Where  shall  we  find  him  ?  Was  there 
ever  such  an  opening  ?  All  the  circumstance  point  to  Jmi 
everything  connected  with  the  case  shouts,  •  Au°,  n  Cra^e  ' 
You  can  come  for  this  year:  if  then  heath  should  faif  ' 
repulsions    spring    up     or    the   social    atmosphere    become' an 

you  c:    J'reTurr  Th°""  '""  y?-,"""^^'  "-''"''-"- 'hen 
/uu  couKi  return.      1  here  is  nn  Hr^il^t    r\n  *u^  i      *.  •   .• 
r^f  fUo*  1  •   A  *»'tic  IS  no  uouDi,  Oil  the  least  intimation 

of  that  kind,  your  people  would   keep  your  place  open  for  you 
W^y,  then,  will  you  not  come  and  help  us  for  this  one  year  at 

Ki  "  ^  "^"^^  ^?  ^"^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^  c'ass :  so  good-bye.  and  God 
bless  you,  and  us  through  you.  ^  * 

*'  Very  truly  as  ever, 

*'  Horace  Mann." 

"  Dear  Fr,e.d  ^ifTuJif: '''■''"'  ^^  ''■'  ''^'"  '''  "^S'        ' 

yesterda7°7r!fJ"/'!K''  '•''",'7"'  '"^•^"''  """^  «°  hand 
feSs  ^"  I  \T  ":■"''  """^'^'^  agitations  of  sad  and  glad 
N    I  ft  1      ^  Purposing  to  go  to-morrow  home  (to  PeapLk 

Sa^^'  and  Venn"  f  ""'•"7  f  ^'°°"'*"^  ^roveand  <  A^us  fn 
^^^^ViF^  a-fe--kslSs-m 

«n.ity.^^^;.Sii'  eas  t'x  T—E-st 


THE  STRUGGLE 


183 

convenience,   the   several  certainties  and  uncertainties    likeli 

P°n'me  airoft  ""'  '""^  °'  '^^  °«^'^'^'  d^^esj^devo!  e 
wuh  them  P''""'"''^  compensations  to  be  connected 

f^^rc^  'pres-^t  ^^^z-^^^z::^ 

two  last-named  items  might  be  worth  (I  3d  ^think^  in 
money-equivalent  groo.  My  residence  at  Yellow  SorUs 
would  involve  the  necessity  of  some  additional  expenditure  in 

e  sef  P'sa°v  'ho''""  °'  ''*^^'  '°  "-^  ^^'^er's  home    ^New 
jersey,— say,    however,   once  a    year-    and   allnu/   ^Kof 

..ems  of  expenditure  there,  may  s'how'a  result   omewha   mo™: 

o7Tf'  '  .';:,"  T^\  ^^^^  •'"-     H-.  I  am  eS  shed 
nou     11  1     pull-up,     what  certainties  may  I  calculate  nnnn  ? 

ihLf  b3  'L""  > '°T  'P"".«^'  ^^'"^  "0  -rtahlty  of%ro, 
atSceTwould      ^"wis^rltf  A":i'"t  -"'-P'^'^d 
blooming  Grove    in  the  evenf  J         l^"*^  ^  "^"^  returning  to 
elsewhere-    fh/tiH       f  ?'^  ""^  *"""«  ""aL)'^  to  remain 

elsewhere ,    that  idea  I  cannot  for  a  moment  entertain       I  Hn 

Sltt.ranor"pasfor"a:!'d'rh''^  "^^T  '''-    '^^ 
again,  even  if  it  were'CccuS  rC  Tl  /  ^^"^ 'Replace 
Grove  at  all     T   i^o        "^^^"P'ea  r     jno,  if  I  leave  Bloom  ng 

home  -  •        '"'"  "  """^  "'^  P^'-P"^^  °f  seeking  '  a  new 

.",  ie~ta"„"e  :'h.'„  t^  r;  iriLir  frA'""  ""h'™- 

ckief  .„o„e  my  ,a.li(c.„„n,  („,  H^«d«,J^^^ 


M 


184    LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

in  Antioch.  Your  last  letter  leaves  me  disposed  to  weigh 
the  whole  matter  anew;  and  now,  dear  sir,  hide  nothing 
from  me,  which  may  help  me  to  understand  what  my  resi- 
dence in  Yellow  Sprmgs  may  involve,  require  and  promise. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"Austin  Craig." 

"  Kf//i?Z£/  springs,  April  jo,  1855. 
"My  DEAR  Mr.  Craig:  ^^ 

"  By  your  letter  of  the  22d  instant,  I  see  I  am  required  to 
sit  down  and  compute  the  tables  of  an  almanac,  showing  the 
decimation,  right  ascension,  etc.,  of  your  orb  for  the  coming 
year,  and  for  a  somewhat  indefinite  future  afterwards.  We 
cannot,  as  yet,  calculate  the  orbit  of  a  human,  astronomically 
quite  as  well  as  we  can  that  of  Mercury  or  Neptune.  Still,  I 
will  do  my  best.  At  any  rate,  I  will  put  you  in  possession 
of  facts  from  which  you  can  cast  a  horoscope.     .     . 

"  The  committee  on  the  subject  of  teachers  is  authorized  to 
employ  a  teacher  of  Greek.  .  .  .  There  has  also  been  a 
good  deal  said  among  the  faculty  about  a  chaplain  for  the 
college;  and,  could  we  get  the  right  man,  the  feeling  amongst 
those  of  us  who  now  supply  the  place  of  one  would  be  unan- 
imous in  favour  of  the  demand.  They  have  been  deterred, 
as  yet,  from  bringing  forward  the  subject  by  the  condition  of 
the  college  finances,  which,  we  have  reason  to  hope,  will  be 
improved  before  another  year  rolls  round. 

"Both  the  chaplaincy  and  the  Greek  would  furnish  easy 
occupation  to  a  man  so  equipped  as  you  are.  ...  I  can- 
not believe,  that,  once  here,  you  would  be  allowed  to  go  away 
until  you  went  the  upper  way.  I  have  now  stated  the  facts 
conscientiously.  I  will  not  offer  any  new  considerations  about 
your  health,  your  growth,  your  very  much  enlarged  sphere  of 
usefulness,  etc.,  but  remain,  as  ever, 

"  Yours  affectionately, 

"  Horace  Mann." 

''Blooming  Grove,  N,  K,  May  7,  1855. 
"  Mv  DEAR  Friend  : 

"  Yours  of  the  30th  ultimo  was  in  our  post-office  on 
my  return  from  New  Jersey  last  Saturday  evening.— Moved  by 
your  urgency,  I  hasten  to  reply. 


:«ii 


THE  STRUGGLE  185 

"  The  week  before  last  I  purchased  a  copy  of  Bullion's 
Greek  Grammar;  designing  to  engage  myself  with  it  at  inter- 
vals of  leisure.  1  expect  to  find  much  study  necessary,  in 
order  to  equip  myself  properly  for  giving  instruction  to  your 
Greek  classes  I  have  for  several  years  been  devoting  atten- 
tion to  the  New  Testament  Greek;  but,  having  ever  in  view 
the  uses  of  the  pulpit  and  my  own  satisfaction,  I  passed  bv 
many  matters  which  1  should  feel  to  be  necessary  in  the  class- 
room.-.Should  I  be  called  to  the  Greek  chair  in  Antioch. 
I  would  strive  to  do  what  my  abilities  and  strength  might  per- 
mit; but  I  forewarn  you  that  Dr.  Siedhoff  probably  knows  ten 
times  more  Greek  than  I. 

"  I  now  definitely  tell  you  that  I  am  inclining  to  accept  the 
call  to  the  Greek  professorship  during  the  absence  of  Mr 
Holmes.— But  I  do  not,  of  course,  announce  this  as  ih^fifiality. 
^/^/  will  be  deferred,  properly,  until  my  reception  of  the 
official  invitation  from  the  committee.— For  your  own  eve 
chiefly,  I  now  write  that,  I  think  I  shall  willingly, -even  hope- 
fully and  gladly,  perhaps,— (if  God  please)  cast  in  my  lot  with 
you  and  your  associates  next  autumn. 

"  I  have  been  carrying  in  my  pocket  for  several  days  past,  a 
let  er  addressed  to  the  trustees  of  the  Blooming  Grove  congre- 
gation which  I  propose  presenting  before  them  this  week :- 
to  the  lollowing  purport  :— 

"  •  Gentlemen  and  Esteemed  Friends  • 
,1,-  -.  '"^  respectfully  tender  to  you-and  through  you,  to 
he  congregation  which  you  officially  represent, -my  resigna 

l^four  yerrr""P  "'"'  '  ""'''  '''"'  '""""^  ^^  ^"""6  "«. 
" ;  According  to  the  terms  of  our  contract,  I  am  obligated 
to  give  you  SIX  months'  notice  of  my  intention  to  withdraw. 
IrVJ^^L  ^l  ^""^'  "■■'hdrawal  from  the  service  of  the  con- 
gregaiion.  The  six  months  will  be  ended  on  the  first  day  of 
^r^H  ';  next._If,  however,  satisfactory  arrangements  could 
the^tlmiltn  ^'  '"PP'V^  V^"  P"'P"  ^^°'^  the  expiration  of 

aJ'/i  '"^H"''^  communication  deliberately;  and  with  un- 
con  re  ation     "'^  "^^''^  ^°^  ^°"'  •"^'^'<^"*">''  *nd  ^r  Ae 

"'A.  C" 


186    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

''Blooming  Grove,  N.  K,  May  7,  /<5'fc 
"My  DEAR  Sir:  -^    '    "JJ- 

"You    have  now  all   that  I   can  at  present  say  —All 
that  IS  necessary  to  say  at  this  stage  of  our  negotiation.     I 
shall   be  glad   to   hear  again   from  you,  at  your  convenience 
Meanwhile,    wuh    kindly   greetings    to    your   household,    and 
friendliest  regards  to  Mrs.  Mann,  1  remain  heartily, 

'*  Yours, 

''Austin  Craig." 

Kot  long  afterwards  the  following  letter  was  despatched 
to  Mr.  Mann  : 

<•  Mr.  Mann.'        "  ^ '"'""'"'  '''''""'  ^^  ^•'  ^"'>  ^'  '^^S- 
**My  dear  Friend: 

on^  «  "  u  "^^^^  '?"'  ^^^^"^^  ^°  >'°"  ^^^^'  meeting  Messrs.  Fay 

nf  M      u   Z'"''?'^^  ^"^  ^"'^"^'  ^'^^"^  ^'"^^'y  ^^  to  "^y  occupancy 
ot  Mr.  Holmes    temporarily  vacated  chair,  I  began  by  telling 

them  that   1   could  wi.h  my  recent  letter  of  acceptance  to  you 

Amin  r/\/Tw''''l'  ?^.^"^^^'l    ^y  promising   to  come  to 
Antioch  (U.  V.)  by  the  beginning  of  your  next  term  !      *  What 
does  this  strange  behaviour  mean  ?  '—I  can  imagine  you  ask- 
ing     I  wish  to  tell  you.     My  charge  in  Blooming  Grove  is  sur- 
rendered  ;   though  still  occupied  by  me,  from  considerations  of 
obvious  duty  to  the  people,  not  to  leave  them  until  suitable  ar- 
rangements for  their  pulpit-sui)ply  can  be  made.     They  refused 
to  accept  my  unconditional  resignation;  proffering  me  a  leave 
ot  absence  for  six,  twelve,  or  even  eighteen  months,  if  neces- 
sary.—I    made   no   rei)ly,  at   the  time  of  receiving  this  com- 
munication from  the  committee  appointed  at  the  coneregation- 
meetmg   except  to  tell  them  how  uncertain  I  felt  my  future  to 
be;  so  far  as  relates  to  the  necessary  health  and  strength  to 
work  in  such  a  field.     Since  that  time,  I  had  quite  abandoned 
the  Idea  of  coming  to  Antioch  ;  and  was  on  the  point  of  writing 
you  so,  when   Messrs.  Fay  and  Brush  intercepted  me  and  re 
ceived   from  me  the  announcement  of  my  hastily  formed  con- 
c  usion  to  come  to  you.      Whether  I  have  acted  prudently  or 
otherwise  in  this  decision,  I  am  unable  to  say.     I  had,  before 
nf  ;,ni'^'.K^  reached  a  point  wh.re  it  seemed  to  me  my  think- 
^^^^^;r' '''''''''  ^°  '^  ^^^^"  ^^  -^'  madeLthing 


THE  STRUGGLE  137 

"I  have  recently  subjected  myself  to  the  examination  of  a 
physician  to  learn  (,f  possible)_if  „ot  what  I  must  do-wha^ 
1  must  not  do.  He  tells  me  that  the  cause  of  my  present  con 
dmon  IS  a  constuutionally  excessive  activity  of  the  bra  n  as 
compared  with  the  vital  supplies  in  my  system.  He  fi  ,ds  my 
nervous  system,  circulation,  liver  and  stomach,  lungs  and 
'renes  all  more  or  less  disordered.  And  he  remarked  0 
me  with  emphasis  that  everything  was  insidiously  conspTring 
to  fasten  consumption  upon  me.  He  was  peremptory  hre^ 
quiring  me  to  cease  from  the  irregularities' of  habit  and  the 

b"n  luLilc?"  wth""'',"""'  ff  ,''''■  '°  '^■'"'^'^  I  have  hSe 
been  subject.     With  prudence,  fidelity  to  his  prescriptions  and 

souie  changed  modes  of  life  which  he  specified,  he  pronounced 
my  cure  .0  be  reasonably  anticipated.     All  thit  he  toTd  m^f 
my  ailments,  I  knew  before  consulting  him;  and  had  fek  the 
rouble  about  my  lungs  so  much,  of  late,  that  at  times,  I  would 
frequently  hesitate  at  any  plans  or  aims,  ^hose  undertaking 
co'nruali'c:""''''  "'^  '''^^  °'  considerable  labour  or  of  mucg 
"It  was  this  that  made  me  think  to  write  you    finallv  de 
chnmg, he  before-accepted  place  in  Antioch.  ^W  .h  the  besi 
health  that  I  have  had  for  several  years,  I  would  ant  ciplte  onlv 
a  moderate  degree  of  success  in  the  new  sphere,  ^vei^wkh  "he 
hard  study  which  I  had  intended  (an.l  expected    L  g  ve  to  the 
da  ly  lessons  of  the  classes.     And  now,  when  in  all  lirel  hood 
s  ould  be  a  semi-invalid,  I  both  fear  the  failure  o    my  eS 

he  f^ilu  :  TT  '°  ""'  ''''  "^^°"^'^''=  •^-->'^»  °f  it,  and 

which  I  could  Z  ''^"'"."""S  ^'"^^gies  under  the  excitements 

u„-?  ,         °"'^''''  '"  'hose  new  responsibilities.     I  stated 

he.e  considerations  to  Messrs.  Fay  and  Brush;  adding   hat  a 

year  of  so  uncertain  prospects  seemed,  in  my  present  filinL 

more  than  I  could  perhaps  jn.liciously  undertake      ThevmTde 

Z:Z^1%^''  '  "'■^'^'  "'.f  <^  '"^'  ^'  '-'  for  one  les  ion    1 

do  o      if  r^Iw°";"n'  '"''  '"''^r'^  'hat  1  would  promise  to 
00  so, — It  providentially  permitted. 

thJ'iistitS  V  '^'^'  ^"'"'''  ^  '"""'  'hat  it  would  be  better  for 
tne  institution  to  secure  some  other  for  the  temporary  suddIv 

le  'tC'  ^"'  'I-^-i"g  'o  'he  briefness  of  the  remaS 
time,-that  cannot  be  done ;  I  am  willing  to  come  fif  strength 

to  amti  "°"'^  and  attempt  the  duties  of  the  post;  wWSS 
Ind  mnT  f'  '"  rf  "^'''''  ''°  "'"'^  'han  an  honest  endeavour 
and  moderate  qualificationsmayenableanot-wellmantoperfJrm 


1 
liil 


188    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

**  Should  you  continue  to  desire  my  coming  to  you,  please 
write  me  soon ;  specifying  the  text-books  to  be  used  in  all  the 
Greek  classes  during  the  next  session,  and  throughout  the  year 
Please  give  me  also  some  account  of  what  has  been  done  during 
the  last  session ;  the  mode  of  instruction,  etc.     Will  you  per 
mit  me  to  interest  (if  possible)  the  members  of  various  classes 
m  the  study  of  the  Greek  New  Testament  ?     I  shall  not  ask  to 
substitute  It  to  the  exclusion  of  other  studies,  or  even  of  other 
Greek  ;  but  would  gladly  make   an   optional  extra  of  it   if  I 
could  interest  the  students— as  I  might  hope.     Please  write  me 
also  whether  I  can  obtain  a  pleasant  room  at  Mr.  Dean's  board- 
mg-house,  the  more  retired  from  the  scenes  of  outdoor  pursuits 
and  activities,  the  more  congenial  to  my  tastes.     Do  not  think 
however,  that  I  wish  to  live  a  hermit.     Far  from  it !     All  that 
my  strength  can  permit  I  wish  to  do,  in  associating  with  the 
pupils,  in  sharmg  the  burdens  of  public  instruction  and  worship 
with  you   and  your  associates;   but   for  the   hours  of  private 
study  to  prepare  for  the  better  instruction  of  my  classes,  1  want 
a  quiet  and   retired  room,  such  as  I  think  Mr.  Dean's  house 
may  contain,  though   |x)ssibly  not  unoc(  iipied.     Please  write 
me  soon  whatever  you  may  think  needful  or  helpful  for  me  to 
know.     Present  my  friendliest  regards  to  Mrs.  Mann  ;  and  ac- 
cept again  the  assurance  of  my  unabated  respect  and  esteem. 

"Austin  Craig." 


XI 

THE  CAPITULATION 

IN  a  letter  written  iu  June,  1855,  Mr.  Mann,  noting 
that  It  now  appeared  settled  that  Mr.  Craig  was  to 
be  with  them  at  Antioch  the  following  year,  spoke 
of  the  tremendous  demands  upon  his  own  strength  so 
great  that  he  could  not  '^get  a  splinter  of  time  anywhere 
to  float  away  upon,''  saying  in  closing  :     ^^It  has  been 
siiid  that  God  will  never  ask  what  a  man  has  done,  but 
what  he  has  done  under  the  circumstances."     Iu  Novem- 
ber, of  the  same  year,  writing  from  Boston,  he  calls  at- 
tention to  a  brief  note  from  Mr.  Craig  which  '^said  noth- 
ing about  what  I  care  most  for, -yourself     You  have 
made    us  all  love  you  so  much,"    he   adds,  ^^a  new 
obligation  is  upon  you.     You  must  take  care  of  yourself 
for  our  sakes  as  well  as  for  your  own.     The  fame  of 
your  popularity  among  the  students  has  reached  here 
and  I  am  congratulated  upon  it."  ' 

One  cannot  better  suggest  the  powerful  hold  Mr.  Craig 
took  upon  those  with  whom  he  came  in  close  personal 
contact   than  by  the  following  letter  from  Mr.   Mann 
written  from  Boston  in  January  of  the  next  year,  1856' 
Mr.  Mann  had  come  up  to  his  own  noble  estate  through 
great  toil  and  amidst  disheartening  conditions.     He  was 
of  that  keen  and  high  type  more  likely  to  magnify  their 
killings  than  exalt  their  better  parts.     He  was  abnormally 
keen  to  feel  his  own  need  of  help,  and  no  other  man,  it 
would  seem,   so  truly  fitted  his  own  nature  and  supplied 
that  of  which  he  felt  himself  deficient.     The  letter  in 

189 


DO    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


*l  ft 


question,  oue  of  the  saddtvst  iu  all  the  line  of  published 
correspondence  of  great  men,  is  as  follows  : 

*'  My  dear  Mr.  Ckaig  : 

"  As  1  am  writing  home  to  Mrs.  Mann,  I  must  write  a 
word  to  you,  because  you  are  now  associated  with  all  my  ideas 
of  home, — an  object  standing  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture. 
One  of  the  regrets  of  absence  is  to  be  away  from  you.     Your 
spiritual-mindedness    is   the    complement   of   my    nature,— of 
what  I  have  ftiiled  to  be,  though  1  was  fit  to  be,  and  ought  to 
have  been.     But  Calvinism   blasphemed  all  that  part  of  me; 
and,  if  it  did  not  destroy  the  germ,  it  checked  its  development! 
1  have  something,  I  hope,  of  the  other  side,— the  intellectual- 
religious  side.      What  I  have,  I  rejoice  in  ;  but  it  constantly  re- 
mmds  me  of  what  else  1  ought  to  have.     I  desire  its  possession 
more  fully.     I  do  not  feel  too  old  to  cultivate  its  growth.     I 
am  only  made  to  feel  and  to  see  how  much  was  lost   to  my 
nature,  because  all  was  done  that  could  be  done,  when  I  was  a 
child,  to  educate  the  love  of  a  heavenly  Father  out  of  me,  in- 
stead of  educating  it  into  me.     This  want  I  feel  and  deplore. 
You  supply  its  place  in  me.     You  call  to  mind,  better  than  any 
other  man  I  have  ever  known,  what  Plato  would  hold  to  be  the 
*  recollections  '   of   a  previous  state  of  being.      Think,    then, 
how  dear  you  are  to  me ;  because  I  feel,  if  I  could  incorporate 
your  soul  into  mine,  it  would  make  me  whole;  /.  e.,  a  whole 
man. 

*'I  feel  constantly,  and  more  and  more  deeply,  what  an  un- 
speakable calamity  a  Calvinistic  education  is.  What  a  dread- 
ful thing  it  was  to  me  !  If  it  did  not  succeed  in  making  me 
that  horrible  thing,  a  Calvinist,  it  did  succeed  in  depriving  me 
of  that  filial  love  for  God,  that  tenderness,  that  sweetness,  that 
mtnnacy,  that  desiring,  nestling  love,  which  I  say  it  is  natural 
the  child  should  feel  towards  a  Father  who  combines  all  excel- 
lence. I  see  him  to  be  so,  logically,  intellectually,  demon- 
stratively; but  when  I  would  embrace  him,  when  I  would  rush 
into  his  arms  and  breathe  out  unspeakable  love  and  adoration, 
then  the  grim  old  Calvinistic  spectre  thrusts  itself  before  me. 
I  am  as  a  frightened  child,  whose  eye,  knowledge,  experience, 
belief  even,  are  not  sufficient  to  obliterate  the  image  which  an 
early  fright  burnt  in  upon  his  soul.  I  have  to  reason  the  old 
image  away,  and  replace  it  with  the  loveliness  and  beauty  of  an- 
other ;  and  in  that  process  the  zeal,  the  alacrity,  the  fervour, 


HORACE  MANN 


II 


A 


A  \. 


n 


II' 


,»; 


|i 


THE  CAPITULATION 


191 

the  spontaneousness,  are,  partially  at  least,  lost.     You  help  me  to 
recover  ,t    an,     fix   the   true   image;    and   thus   you   help  my 
sp,r,tual  hfe.     I  would  not  part  wiih  one  idea,  one  convicU^n^ 
on  the  other  s-de  of  my  moral  life;  but  I  feel  a   though/  S 
be  a  better  man,  and  a  vastly  happier  man,  if  I  could  add  your 
sule  to  mme.     And  as  you  have  opportunity,  my  dear  friend 
let  me  entreat  you  to  impart  this  loving  side  of  religTon  to  mv 
j.tle  boys.     Above  all  treasures.  I  lon|  that  they  sh3d  have 
>    There  can  be  no  such  chasm  in  their  being  as  to  be  with! 
out  .t.     for  the  tnals  of  life,  it  is  the  best  philosophy      FoTthe 
joysof  existence,  u  is  the  greatest  magnifier;  for  it  magniLin 
the  hue  of  direction  as  well  as  of  quantity  '"agnmes  in 

"But  I  am  interrupted  by  company ;  and  what  will  my  wife 

"  Good-bye,  my  dear  friend, 
"Horace  Mann." 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  written  by  Mr. 
Craig  at  this  time  to  Mr.  Mann  are  of  interest  : 

"  I  have  never  yet  acknowledged  in  a  manner  suitable  to  m» 
feelings,  a  very  kind  and  flattering  letter  of  Jou  s  to  me  whkh 
caiiie  enclosed  m  your  letter  to  Mrs.  Mann.-^u  °K  you 
left  New  York  to  return  home.     The  friendship  which  vou  ex 

r;:::that^T;,rT"'™'' '"  "^^^  ■«=""•  --  - tStfui 

o  me  that  I  was  fain  to  appropriate  it  to  myself-  but  from  rer 
am  iiici,  ental  utterings  as  to  the  excellencies  of  the  peTson  ad 
ressed,  I  concluded  that  you  had  written  of  (and  '0^^!' 

aiur'al'lTi:::";  J'r  ^°J?  '^^'^  '"  "''"'^'  -d  then  (as  you^wou^d 
ZZll  ,  ^^"l'"«  °/  y°"'  ^''t'"*^''  flo'^k,  and  of  the  tem- 
t'he  en'v   S'"'*  "'""''  T"  '"Pf-^"^^'  '»  -"'«  ™y  "am^  u^^n 

ema?ks  wa^-  nni./l  'A    ^"f /'  ""'  P°'"''  *^  '^e  '  train  '  of  my 
remarks  was  quite  laid,  and  I  was  preparing  to  '  touch  it  nff  •  • 

vl.o  should   come   in    but  the  minister  and  his  wife       So  I 
hol'role'eV;"^'  '°  T'  '''°'''y  '  conveSti:?and  uV- 

.0  e^^^he'^tLa.r.^f'   '"'^;"°^  '^'^  "'  «°"^'  I  do  "°t  re. 
anew.  °^  "^  discourse  satisfactorily ;  so  I  begin 

re.n.L-^"'    exceedingly    /,M,^  with  what    you    communicate 
respecting  the  story  of  those  kind  gentlemen  who  cTedTf^n 


I 


1' 


192    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CKAIG 

you  with  the  subscription  on  my  behalf.  I  can  easily  under- 
stand how  the  lost  $80  should  be  thought  my  loss.— I'hough  I 
never  told  any  one  that  I  lost  it.  But  how  the  other  reports 
could  have  originated,— that  I  am  necessitously  poor,  and  have 
father  and  mother  dependent  upon  me  for  support  ! — I  am  ut- 
terly at  a  loss  to  surmise.  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  told  any- 
thing of  my  financialities  to  any  one  in  Yellow  Springs,  except 
that  once  in  a  merry  talk  in  the  bookstore  I  think  I  stated  that 
my  first  receipts  for  preaching  were— (after  1  had  been  a 
preacher  for  nearly  three  years)— seven  dollars,  and  a  *  bran- 
new  '  hickory  axe-handle,  for  nearly  two  weeks'  labour— Sun- 
days and  week-days.  Perhaps  they  may  have  thought  that  I 
ought  to  be  *  necessitously  poor '  under  these  circumstances ; 
but  that  was  a  mistake ;  and  you  did  a  thankworthy  thing  in 
inducing  my  kind-meaning  friends  to  desist  from  their  en- 
terprise. 

**  In  relation  to  the  matter  of  the  students'  subscription  to 
make  *  a.  present,'  etc.,  I  cannot  say  anything. 

"I  am  in  a  yielding  mood  now  as  to  being  present  at  the 
dedication  services.  If  I  shall  succeed  in  arranging  matters 
suitably,  and  can  learn  the  apjx)inted  time  of  the  ceremony  in 
season  to  reach  Yellow  Springs  against  the  day,  I  will  endeavour 
(D.  V.)  to  be  present.  1  don't  see  how  I  could  reasonably 
reach  you  by  the  third  Sunday  of  this  month  ;  you  might  ex- 
pect me  by  the  fourth  Sunday,— if  that  day  should  be  ap- 
pointed. Let  me  know  the  appointed  day ;  for  I  cannot  be  from 
home  more  than  one  Sunday,  at  this  time. 

"  If  you  should  think  the  time  so  short  now  that  your  answer 
might  fail  to  reach  me  before  1  ought  to  be  on  the  way  to 
you,  you  can  telegraph  me  from  your  Yellow  Springs  office  to 
Washingtonville,  N.  Y.  ;  where  the  New  York  and  Erie  Rail- 
road has  a  telegraph  office.  I  must  incidentally  tell  you,  how- 
ever, that  the  only  message  which  I  ever  had  occasion  to  send 
through  the  Yellow  Springs  office,  had  not  reached  Middle- 
town  ye/,  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  there,  five  days  after  I 
had  despatched  it  !  Ohio  hghtning  doesn't  always  strike 
where  it  hits,  does  it?  Let  it  be  well  greased  before  it 
starts  ! 

"Away  with  this  note  to  the  flames!  But  believe  me,— 
with  no  abatement  of  former  affection,— the  sincere  friend  of 
you  and  yours, 

"  Austin  Craig." 


THE  CAPITULATION 
lu  February,  1856,  Mr.  Mann  writes  : 


193 


'*My  dear  Mr.  Craig: 

-  1  put  a  single  word  into  Mrs.  Mann's  letter,  more  for 
the  sake  of  telhng  you  how  Horace  Mann  loves  Austin  Craig 
than  for  any  other  reason.     .     .     .  v-*«i'6 

♦'  The  strongest  desire  is  expressed  for  your  return 
Our  trustee  meeting  is  on  the  12th  of  March.  If  we  can  have 
your  affirmative  reply  before  that  date,  the  proper  measures 
can  be  taken  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  g^LgyoT^Zus 
m  the  CO  lege  as  College  Chaplain,  and  lI cturf r^  the  Ev  ' 
dences  of  Christianity,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  or 
something  of  that  kind.  This  ought  to  be;  for  you  should 
have  an  official  relation  to  the  students  as  the  basis  of  your 
moral  one  Good-bye,  dear  Mr.  Craig ;  and  if  my  invocation 
were  worth  anything,  I  would  say,  God  bless  you  ! 

"Horace  Mann." 

Again  with  the  old  aim  in  view  of  drawing  Mr.  Craig 
to  Antioeh,  not  only  because  of  his  own  affection  for  liini 
and  his  feeling  of  need,  but  because  he  saw  a  day  com- 
ing, and  approaching  more  rapidly  than  others  knew 
when  he  must  give  up  the  burden  and  when,  as  he  fondly 
hoped,  Mr.  Craig  might  succeed  him,  he  despat<^hed  the 
following  letter  dated  at  Antioeh  College,  April  7,  1856. 
Ihis  IS  followed  by  its  answer  together  with  another 
similar  letter  from  Mr.  Mann. 

"  Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Cra,g  :    "  ^"'"''  ''''"'"'  ''^''"  ^'  ^*^^- 

Societv'i'n"fhT'',''  ^  Tk  ^°"  '^^  invitation  of  the  Christian 
society  in  this  place  to  become  their  pastor.  I  need  not  tell 
you  ho^v  much  pleasure  it  affords  me  to  do  it 
cZa^  circumstances  attending  the  call  were  such  as  you 
cou  d  hardly  wish  modified,  were  they  at  the  full  disposal  of 
Sr  'f  "^•^•^^'».-  After  your  name  was  introduced  at  the 
nieeting,  ,t  was  said  that  you  had  been  elected  Colleee 
CnM^l'",^.  ^"''.  'he  enquiry  was  made,  how  you  could  be 
t.ollege  Chaplain,  and  pastor  of  the  Christian  Church  also 
Omitting  what  I  said  about  Mr.  Craig  as  a  man,  it  was  said  that 


»f 


'!  f. 


i<r 


194    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

the  relation  which  I  wished  to  see  him  fill  was  that  of  officiat- 
ing at  the  college  one-half  the  day  on  Sundays,  when  the 
whole  society  would  be  invited  to  attend  there;  and  the  other 
half  of  the  day  at  the  church,  when  the  college  would  attend 
there.  Your  morning  duties  at  the  chapel  would  never  inter- 
fere with  anything  at  the  church,  and  your  evening  services  at 
the  church  would  never  interfere  with  anything  at  tlie  dmptl 
We  could  take  your  morning  duties  at  the  chapel  whenever  de- 
sirable. I  said  that  there  was  a  natural  alienation  between  the 
students  of  a  college  and  the  villagers  where  it  was  situated ; 
that  there  was  less  of  it  here  than  usually  happens ;  but  that  I 
wanted  none  of  it  :  on  the  contrary,  1  wished  to  cultivate 
harmony,  cordiality,  identity  of  spirit,  between  us;  and  that 
you  were  the  man  to  do  it. 

"Alter  the  statement  had  been  fully  made  and  understood, 
the  vote  was  taken,  and  it  was  unanimous  with  a  single  excep- 
tion— Mr.   C ,  who  spoke   highly  of  you,  but  gave  as  a 

reason  for  his  vote  afterwards,  that  you  were  ojjposed  to  church 
organization. 

'•  So  flattering  a  call  few  men  have  ever  had  ;  and  so  fair  an 
opening  for  usefulness  rarely  falls  to  the  lot  of  mmisters.  1  can 
now  see  nothing  of  a  public  or  general  nature  which  can  stand 
in  the  way  of  a  noble  mission  to  the  people  of  this  place,  col- 
lege and  village;  and  I  do  not  believe  that  you  will  suffer  any- 
thing of  a  personal  or  private  nature  to  do  so.  I  know  not 
what  secrets  futurity  may  have  behind  the  curtain  ;  but  1  never 
saw  so  fair  a  prospect  for  any  man's  filling  his  worldly  stomach 
with  the  honey  of  success,  and  his  Christian  heart  with  the 
rewards  of  faithful  ministrations  in  divine  things,  as  now  opens 
before  you. 

"  The  church  will  be  completed  about  the  first  of  May. 
Do  not,  I  beseech  you,  allow  the  ceremony  of  dedication  to 
pass  by  without  your  presence.  Let  all  future  associations 
connected  with  the  house  be  seen  through  the  medium  of  that 
beautiful  light.  Even  if  you  must  go  back  for  any  period, 
longer  or  shorter,— though  1  sincerely  hope  not,  at  least  during 
our  present  term,— come  and  be  present,  be  installed,  at  the 
time  of  the  dedication  of  the  house  ;  and  then,  if  absolutely 
necessary,  I  doubt  not  you  can  obtain  leave  of  absence.  But  1 
want  that  radiant  point  in  the  sky  at  that  place,  where  it  will 
forever  be  so  conspicuous. 

.     .     We  are  all  well,  thanks  to  the  good  laws  of  God 


it 


THE  CAPITULATION  195 

which  we  are  trying  to  worship  Him  by  obeying.  We  have 
about  sixty  new  students  this  term,  notwithstanding  all  the 
efforts  of  the  ungodly  to  keep  them  away.     .     .     ^  "^ 

"  I  am,  as  ever,  yours  devotedly, 

"Horace  Mann." 

"  Mr.  Mann.     "  ^''''"^■^'"''^-  ^'"''^^elphia,  April  12,  xSjd. 
"  My  dear  Friend  : 

"  Yours  of  the  7th  instant  reached  me  at  this  place 
last  evening.  The  cordial  and  kindly  expressions  con- 
tained in  your  letters  to  me  are  always  most  grateful  Verv 
pleasant,  too,  the  unanimity  of  the  society  in  their  late  action 
respecting  the  settlement  of  a  pastor_as  reported  by  you  and 
by  Mr.  King.  How  much  I  am  drawn  to  the  position  which 
...V,  es  me,  1  can  hardly  express  to  you.  I  am  not,  however 
ready  to  write  you  that  I  will  come. 

ine'n!^'  """  ^""'''^  "'"  ^°"  ^^''^  considerations  weigh  with 

,ul7"f\  }  ^f"-  "'*'  ""^  involved  (if  not  required)  duties  of 
in  dv    t'he'dT"  "'"  ""Tr-  '"^  ^'^^"S'h.  \ou  dill  readny 

o°ce  a  week  ^f  "'*  °^'''■"'"  "l^""  "-^  between  preaching 
once  a  week   to  my  parishioners  here  in  Orange  Co     and 

cS  Zid'ir  '  "'"'  '"  If"'"  'P""g^-  '  don'-t  see  how  I 
nicely  aUiomr"'  °'  '"  "°"  ^'""^  '"  ^""^  P'^^  *- 
which^^I  T/r.'  '  '!°"''  "'''•'  '°  ^^°'^  ^"y  ^t"dy  or  labour,  to 

?^thT;^-tLri;°s;iprf„r£^errre:irw^ 

Hti^anTrnt'-     '  '°"''  ^"^^  ^^  "'^  IwouKe^m-y 

ever^thl/  t"*"^  bwn  "lade  to  feel  this  spring  more  keenly  than 
ever,  that  I  must  take  care  of  my  troublesome  weak  constitu- 

specificX"""/","'''  *°  ''""  ^1°""  y"  *hat  amount  of  duty, 
Chnnhin^'  f^'^^^^K  "1»"    the    future    incumbent    of   the 

dutvof  rl        c°«""only  imposed  (and  to  me  most  onerous) 
fand  ?    PT'^-^""""  ministerial  visitation.     I  allow  the  duty 

S  tT fee' the°pTtr  "^^  °'  '"^  '''  '"'^  ^"^  -^"^  -  -^ 


i\ 


4 


t  j 


»  I 


IDG    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

*'One  other  matter,— least  poetical  of  all  (and  to  me  least 
tasteful)—!  mean  to  consider  hereafter  (not  in  the  first  place, 
however)  the  pecuniary  results  of  my  time  and  service.  Dur- 
ing my  ministry,  I  su})pose  that  I  have  expended  as  much,— 
perhaps  more  llian  I  have  received.  1  mean  now  to  do  what  I 
reasonably  can  to  provide  for  tlie  future  contingencies  of  this 
life.  I  have  really  formed  a  careless  habit  of  dealing  with  the 
financialiiies,  which  subjects  me  to  the  criticisms  of  those 
near  to  me,  and  the  rebukes  of  my  own  mind. 

**  Before  determining  to  come  to  Yellow  Springs,  I  wish  to 
understand  what  compensation  1  may  reasonably  expect  (not 
what  an  irresponsible  number  of  persons  may  imagine).  My 
position  in  Blooming  Grove  is  worth  $600  in  money  and  $100 
in  parsonage  and  '  incidentals.'  1  could  obtain  more.— Shan't 
ask  for  it :   but  have  heard  that  it  may  be  offered  me. 

"Now,  shall  I  come  to  Yellow  Springs  and  do  twice  the 
duty  required  in  Blooming  Grove  for  the  same  compensation  ? 
I  shall  be  willing,— if  some  stern  voice  of  duty  so  bids.  1  am 
so  unaccustomed  to  writing  and  speaking  of  such  matters,  that 
I  really  don't  know  how  it  sounds  to  a  right-minded  person. 
I  have  meant  to  write  properly  and  suitably ;  but  I  have  some 
not  pleasant  feelings  even  in  writing  of  such  matters. 
"  In  friendship-affection  truly  yours, 

"Austin  Craig." 

"  Veilow  Springs,  May  j6,  1836, 
**Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Craig: 

*•  U'e  have  concluded  to  dedicate  the  church  on  the 
second  Sunday  in  June,— the  eighth  day  of  that  month.  It  is 
the  unammous  wish  of  the  committee  that  you  should  preach 
the  dedication  sermon;  and  you  are  hereby  invited  to  do 
II.     .     .     . 

"And  now,  my  dear  friend,  how  could  you  write  me  so  in- 
complete a  letter  as  yours  of  the  7th  inst.  ?  The  people  here 
are  all  agony  to  know  '  whether  Mr.  Craig  accepts  the  invita- 
tion to  settle  with  us.'  I  told  them,  that  by  the  middle  of  this 
week,  we  should  undoubtedly  hear  from  you.  That  time 
came,  and  your  letter,  but  not  a  word  about  anvthing  beyond 
being  present  at  the  dedication.  That,  of  course,  would  be 
most  agreeable,  but  is  not  the  thing.  .  .  .  The  flock  is 
w-ithout  a  head.  What  wolves  will  invade  the  fold,  if  left  in 
this  condition  for  six  months,  who  can  tell  ?     .     .     . 


THE  CAPITULATION  197 

"My  dear   friend,   let   me  exhort  you  to  do  two  things 
Come  and  speak  for  us  in  the  chapel,  Sunday,  June  ist  •  dedi- 
cate the  new  house,  and   be  installed  as  pastor  of  the  church 

'"Mif  ^r'    m'^^^'^  ^"^   ^^^"^^  got  released  from  what 
you  call  'home 'let  us  make  you  another,  and,  for  the  good 

iv^^sttid'sr^  '  '^^'  ^^  ^-  ^--  y-  Ln. 

"  I  am,  as  ever,  most  sincerely  yours, 

*' Horace  Mann." 

Perhaps    nothing  would    better   illustrate  the  value 
which  Mr.  Mann  set  upon  having  Mr.  Craig  at  Antioch 
or    his  own  imperative  need  of  him,    than  the  letter 
which  he  wrote  from  Yellow  Springs  in  July,  1856  : 

"  Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Craio  :       '^  ''''''"  *''"^^'  "^"'^  ^'  ''^^' 

'*  I  received   yours  of  June  23  a  week  ago,  and  have 
been  most  anxiously  awaiting  intelligence  from  your  society 

]n?..v  ^n'.K  '  '''''^'^'  ^""^  ^''  ^'  doubtless  you  both  know  and 
knew,  in  the  negative. 

n.''J\  'n'f  '"^^^^=JW«  '  If  SO.  my  first  impulse  is  to  resign  at 
once,  and  leave  I  know  the  consequences:  not  that  my  with- 
drawnjg  would  be  of  any  account ;  but  if  I  should  go,  Mr 

Pennel  and  R ,  of  course,  would  not  remain  a  day^    Th[s 

would  be  fatal  to  the  concern.  ^ 

''I  should  regard  this  result  more  than  I  can  express.  I 
thmk  I  can  sacrifice  my  own  ease  and  emolument  for  the  sake 
of  success  m  accomplishing  the  great  enterprise  for  which  I 

H?'  T  ''T;  '^"',  '^  "°  °"^  ^'^«  '^"l  n>^ke  any  sacrifice  for 
the  welfare  of  the  college,  and  if  we  are  to  have  Mr.  Z 

pastor  of  the  church,  or  any  one  like  him,  then  1  feel  as  though 

ttn  ri?.'  °Vh'  '°^T  "^^'f'  ^'  '^^^^  ""der  my  administrl 
on   ,s  jeoparded,  and  the  only  motive  which  I  have  for  stay- 
ng  here  is  gone      You  supplied  all  conditions.     Your  refusal 

Xs'  tr  '"  '°"'^'''°"'  unsupplied.  I  write  in  haste  a^d 
sauness,  out  am,  as  ever, 

*'  Truly  yours, 

''P  Q      rr.u       r     1    r  1  ''Horace  Mann. 

f.  b.—lf  the  refusal  of  the  society  is  peremptory,  is  it  per- 

await  with  great  anxiety  an  answer  to  tAis  enquiry.'' 


i\ 


:  I        i 


m 


t: 


198    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLX  CRAIG 

The  sliadow  of  ill  health  for  years  following  steadily  on 
Mr.   Mauu's  path,   was  darker  now  aud  more  sinister 
The  uext  letter  diseloses  more  of  this  though  it  does  not 
indicate  how  great  was  the  danger.     The  letter  is  self- 
explanatory  : 

»  AT  ..      .,  "Mackinaw,  Michigan,  August  7,  iSc6 

"  My  DEAR  Mr.  Craig  :  «       />    "J"- 

"  Yours  of  July  20  has  been  forwarded  to  me  at  this 
place,  whither  I  have  come  in  search  of  the  fugitive,  heahh  • 
at  least,  to  escape  from  the  debihtations  of  our  iummer  heats' 
I  wish  you  were  here.  It  is  a  fortnight  to-day  since  we  ar^ 
rived  ;  and  such  paradisiacal  weather  as  we  have  had  '  iust 
warm  enough  not  to  be  cold,  and  just  cold  enough  not  to  be 
warm.  Only  one  thing  is  wanting  to  me,  and  I  should  thrive 
like  a  green  bay  tree ;  and  that  is  the  home  diet. 

•'  Last  night  we  had  some  commotion  among  the  elements  • 
and  to-day  It  is  cloudy,  and  a  fire  is  comfortable.  Bu^a  flnj 
whiffs  of  this  air  would  make  your  lungs  give  a  hygienic  lauol 
I  am  sorry  to  hear  there  are  any  symptoms  in  your  thro^^or 
elsewhere  which  give  you  present  disxomfort  or  forebodings  I 
am  afraid  of  that  Eastern  climate  for  your  lungs.  I  do  not 
beheve  that  air  will  ever  agree  with  you.'  It  requires  a  Borea 
to  blow  It,  and  none  but  a  Boreas  can  breathe  it.  You  are  an 
"°"x^'"  j' '  ^^^"  hothouses  will  not  save  you,  1  fear 

•'  My  dear  friend,  you  must  answer  me  one  question  ;  for  it 
will  be  an  element  in  coming  to  conclusions  that  now  impend 
It  IS  no  other  than  the  question  I  put  to  you  before  :    Suppose 
the  SIX  months  during  which  you  feel  yourself  bound  to  the 
Blooming  Grove  Society  to  be  at  an  end.  would  you.  or  would 
you   not,  come   to  Yellow   Springs  ?    That   is   the  question. 
Why  should  you  not  answer  it  ?     It  is  an  important  element  at 
least.  If  not  a  decisive  one,  in  regard  to  ulterior  things      I 
canie  here  with  great  hopes,  ready  to  put  forth  my  best  efforts 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifices  probably  resulting  in  success.     If 
1  am  to  fail,  I  have  already  sacrificed   too  much;    and  the 
sooner  I  stop   the  more  strength  I  shall  have  by  the  time  I  get 
home,  which  I  hope  will  be  about  the  20th  inst 

"  Yours  lovingly, 

"Horace  Mann." 

In  a  letter  written  on  his  return  to  Antioch  in  October, 


THE  CAPITULATION  199 

Mr.  Mann  spoke  of  Mr.  Craig's  visit  to  Antioch  in  char- 
acteristic phrase  :  "  Yoia-  having  been  here,  and  being 
gone,  and  being  going  to  be  gone,  seem  to  me  like  a  sad 
and  do  etu  dream.  Then  comes  the  consciotisuess  that 
It  IS  not  a  dream,  but  a  reality."  The  autumn  passed  on 
into  WH,  or,  the  devoted  president  steadily  burning  out 
(In-  candle  at  both  ends.  No  matter  what  came,  no  mat- 
tor  how  ,leep  or  great  the  disappointments,  or  how  bitter 
the  consciousness  that  he  should  never  see  his  dream  of 
Antioch  fulhlhKl,  he  never  lost  his  hope  that  he  should 
some  day  gain  a  nearer  relationship  to  the  man  whose 
iimiiediate,  personal  touch  he  needed  so  much. 

Mr.  Craig  had  meanwhile  gone  South  on  a  much  needed 
vacation,  as  the  two  following  letters  indicate  : 

"Mr.  an-d  Mrs.  Mann'.'^^'^^'"''  ^'"'O' f ''"'""■>  ^5,  1S57. 
"  Very  dear  Friends  : 

"Austin  Craig  is  in  Ohio  at  this  present  writing  and 

from  diose  sever^'^I^r,/"^""'   ^^  '^l  overground   railroad 

fnvli  r°"''^   gladly  write   you   a  letter  more  worthy  of  your 

to     <^;7" -r  l\  ^^''y'  ^^^S™^''^  ^^r-^''  ■■=  likely  to  gZ 

train   whch   k  ^  '"  "°"-'     ^  '""  ^"^'""g  '^e  arrival  of 

dianlpon;^       ^        '°  '°"'"y  ■""  °"  '"^^'^^  Cairo,  via  In- 

if  'v^'t  "^f""'  p!"'^  ■""''  "'^  enclosed  letter  to  Dr.  Hoyt— 
'f  you  can  learn  his  present  whereabouts.     And  do  nofforget 


L**  «l. 


<IF 


200    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

some  time  to  write  me  the  titles  of  those  little  books  which  you 
wrote  me  that  you  valued  so  highly.  I  have  a  little  friend 
about  four  years  old,  counting  by  time ;  but  really  much  older 
in  capacity  of  perception  and  apprehension.  If  you  meet  any- 
thing of  worth  for  little  people,  please  write  me  of  it.  I  will 
try  to  reciprocate  such  favours. 

"  I  was  reading  John  Sterling's  Poems  yesterday. — I  infer 
that  Carlyle's  *  Life  of  John  Sterling '  lacks  the  wholeness  of 
truth.  I  shall  wish  to  read  what  Hare  has  written  of  him. 
Oh,  how  unsatisfying  is  all  talent,  taste  and  genius,  which  does 
not  whole-heartedly  worship  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ! 

"I  want  to  hear  what  Mr.  Mann  is  doing  this  year.  It  is 
his  year  of  instruction.  Dear  sir,  favour  me  some  time  with  a 
full  account  of  Antioch  affairs  from  your  standpoint. 

"My  friendly  regards  to  *  H.  M.,'  '  G.  C.  M.,'  and 
'B.  P.  M.'     I  wish  them  ♦  Happy  New  Year.' 

•♦  Kindly  words  and  friendly  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  S.  Dean. 
I  was  hoping  to  see  Mrs.  Pennell— but  I  don't  go  to  St. 
Louis. 

**  Farewell, — in  Peace  ! 

"Austin  Craig." 

'*  Cairo,  Illinois ,  March  24,  i8s7, 
"  Horace  Mann. 

**  Mv  DEAR  Friend: 

*'  I  am  detained  here  a  few  hours,  and  feel  that  I  can- 
not more  agreeably  to  myself  devote  a  part  of  this  leisure,  than 
in  writing  you  this  renewed  assurance  of  the  esteem  in  which  I 
continually  hold  you  and  yours. 

"My  letter  to  you,  to  Mrs.  M and  you,  from  New  Or- 
leans, a  few  weeks  ago,  acquainted  you  with  facts  of  my  arrival 
and  sojourn  there,  which  I  need  not  repeat.  I  left  that  city 
last  Tuesday  (17th  instant);  having  been  there  not  quite  six 
weeks.  I  did  not  have  such  opportunities  of  preaching  during 
my  sojourn  in  New  Orleans  as  I  hoped  for.  I  preached  but 
three  tmies,  indeed,  once  in  the  'Christian  Chapel,'  and  twice 
in  the  Mission  Church  (Presbyterian),  on  Thalia  and  Franklin 
Streets.  I  preached  on  the  river  four  Sundays,— had  a  curious 
audience  last  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  steerage  of  the  steamer 
St.  Nicholas.  Have  you  ever  seen  the  lower-deck  community 
of  a  Mississippi  steamer?  What  an  'underworld'  it  is! 
There  were   over    a    hundred,  men,  women   and  children— 


THE  CAPITULATION 


201 


mostly  foreigners  ;  poor,  and  dirty ;  lying  tier  above  tier  in  the 
dingy  space.  Thirty  or  forty,  perhaps,  hstened ;  as  many 
more  heard,  who  did  not  listen,—!  suppose;  and  many  neither 
listened  nor  heard,  but  played  cards,  swore,  and  made  uproar 
I  repeated  the  Parable  of  the  Prodigal  to  them,  and  spoke  of 
Man  s  Sinfulness,  God's  Compassion  and  Christ's  Mediatorial 
Life  and  Death,  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  minutes.  A  dozen  or 
more  gave  me  a  friendly  hand  and  words  of  thanks. 

"  I  have  not  seen  enough  of  the  South  to  speak  of  it  freely 
I  was  treated  with  great  friendliness  by  all  with  whom  I  had 
intercourse.  And  New  Orleans— interesting  as  the  capital  city 
of  King  Cotton,— is  not  (as  far  as  I  saw)  liable  to  disparage- 
ment in  comparison  with  our  other  great  cities  (except  Phila- 
delphia) on  the  score  of  Public  Decency  and  Order  From 
what  I  learned,  I  judge  that  it  is  making  decided  advances  in 
moral  and  religious  and  educational  interests.  I  met  Mr. 
Beach,  an  Antioch  Junior,  during  my  stay. 

"I  have  recently  extended  my  acquaintance  with  the  devo- 
tional literature  of  the  Romish  Church  ;  and  with  great  satis- 
faction to  myself— I  know  not  but  with  benefit,  also.     A  little 
book   on    the    Devout    Life,   by    St.    Francis   of  Sales,    and 
l^aber  s  '  Growth  in  Holiness,'  among  others,  charm  me.     Many 
of  the  sentiments  and  rules  of  life  in  these  books  are,  in  form 
similar  to  the  doctrines  of  physiologists ;  yet  they  widely  differ 
in  efficacy  and  character  by  the  motives  they  present      Physi- 
ology presents  low  motives  to  physical  obedience.     The  Gospel 
enjoins  many  things— in  form— identical  with  the  Health-laws 
of  Physiology,  but    the   Gospel    presents    the  necessary  hi^h 
motive      I  cannot  say  that  Physiology—/,  e.,  the  knowledge  of 
Mtural  laws,  as  such,  has  done  me  much  good.     I  have  never 
effected  any  act  or  vow  of  self-denial  under  the  influence  of 
Physiology.     //  seems  to  me  like  the  Mosaic  Law— a  system 
of  truths  calculated  to  make  us  feel  our  needs,  which  only  the 
helping  spirit  of  God   can   effectually  supply.     I  cannot,  of 
course  say  what  science  and  Natural-Law-instruction  may  have 
done  for  others  (in  the  way  of  prevention,— good)— but  as  for 
recovery,  subduing  a  strong  appetite  and  the  like,  I  feel  as- 
sured that  Faith-power  rather   than  Physiological-perception 
must  be  found  the  efficient  agent  of  Vital  Reform. 

"  You  are  at  the  close  of  another  session  I  presume.  How 
has  It  been  with  you  ?  Do  you  retain  your  cheerful,  hopeful 
view  of  the  ultimate  success  of  Antioch  ?     What  course  of  in- 


'  ii 


IJ 


» 


tl 


202    LIFE  AND  LETTEIIS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

striiction  are  you  pursuing  with  your  Seniors ;  and  what  text- 
books are  you  using  ?  I  suspect  that  you  would  find  Michaeli's 
*  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  Moses  '  a  useful  and  interestintj 
adjunct  to  your  instructions  on  the  Constitution  of  Man 
(Pardon  me  for  implying  that  you  do  not  know  all  about  the 
work  ;  for  it  is  a  scarce  one— found  only  here  and  there  in 
some  theological  library.—A  book  of  its  idea  and  design- 
conformed  to  the  present  advance  of  science— would  be  in- 
valuable.) 

"  Please  address  me  at  Peapack,  N.  J.,  or  if  not  before  May- 
day, then,  at  Blooming  Grove.  Remember  me  kindly  to 
Horace,  George  and  Bennie.  I  am  writing  this  letter  with  a 
pen-holder  which  bears  upon  it  their  initials,  and  often  reminds 
me  of  them. 

"Tell  Horace  that  if  he  can  find  time  from  conning 
chemical  formulas  to  commit  to  memory  the  historical  parts 
of  the  New  Testament,  he  will  rejoice  over  that  acquisition 
hereafter. 

"Affectionate  greetings  to  you  and  to  Mrs.  Mami ;  in  hope 
of  a  speedy  communication  from  you,     Yours, 

"Austin  Craig." 


*' April  6,  i8s7. 

"  MV  DEAR,  EVER  DEAR    Mr.  CrAIG  : 

"Your  letter  from  Cairo  reached  us  the  day  our  term 
opened.  Since  then,  the  number  and  character  of  my  duties 
in  launching  our  craft  for  another  term  have  crowded  me  half 
way  to  insanity.  But  to-day  we  are  under  sail,  and  all  posts 
are  manned  or  woman ed.     .     .     . 

"  I  should  have  written  you  on  some  points ;  but  Mrs.  Mann 
has^  said  them  better  than  I  could.  Ponder  them,— for  Anti- 
och's  sake,  for  humanity's  sake,  for  God's  sake,  ponder  them. 
The  bird's  wing  was  not  made  for  the  air,  nor  our  eye  for  the 
light,  any  more  than  you  for  Antioch  College.  Why  will  you 
keep  things  apart  that  were  made  for  each  other  ? 

"If  I  could  feel  that  you  would  be  my  successor  here,  I 
should  be  ready  at  any  time  to  say  with  old  Simeon,  '  Now, 
Lord,  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace.' 

"  May  God  bless  and  let  me  direct  you  !     Is  that  wicked  ? 

"As  ever,  yours, 

"Horace  Mann." 


THE  CAPITULATION 

Two  characteristic  letters  follow  : 


203 


"  Ye/Iow  Springs,  June  /,  18^7. 
"  My  dear  Mr.  Craig  : 

"  The  vision  forever  flits  before  my  mind,  that,  if  I  am 
to  be  at  Antioch  College,  you  are  to  be  here  too.  It  cannot  be 
selfishness.  It  is  genuine  heart-belief  that  nowhere  else  can 
you  do  so  much  good  as  here.  .  .  .  Now  be  a  good  boy  ! 
Don't  be  over-modest.  Trust  in  God  some,  in  Austin  Craig 
also,  and  listen  to  this  request ;  and  make  it  prophecy  now, 
and  history  hereafter. 

"  Yours,  as  ever,  most  truly, 

"Horace  Mann." 

**  Blooming  Grove ^  N.  Y.,Ju7ieg,  18^7. 
"Dear,  Esteemed  Friend: 

"If  I  could  sit  down  in  quiet  with  you  for  a  while, 
either  in  your  own  house, — or  here  in  mine  (now  won't  you 
come  this  summer  ?  )— I  should  probably  have  no  lack  of  mat- 
ter to  tell  you  or  to  ask  you  about.  But  writing  is  so  prosy 
and  worklike  that  I  don't  really  feel, — now  that  I  have  begun  a 
letter  to  you, — to  have  anything  to  say. 

"I  write  at  all  to  notify  you  that  your  Cincinnati  speech 
reached  me  to-day,  (thank  you  heartily  !  ) — but  inside  the  leaf, 
in  your  hand,  was  the  name  of  '  Peter  Cooper,'  and,  thinking 
that  possibly  you  might  wish  to  know  the  fact,  as  a  clue  to 
some  undesigned  exchange  of  packets,  I  determined  to  write 
you  this  at  once ;  and,  for  the  rest,  tell  you  that  some  time 
hereafter  when  I  feel  that  something  worth  communicating  is 
with  me,  to  write  you  a  letter,  instead  of  the  empty  note  which 
this  is. 

"  I  dare  say  you  are  busy,  and  over-busy,  as  the  Com- 
mencement nears  you.  Success  attend  you,  even  that  best 
success  (which  I  believe  is  not  lacking  to  you)  of  inspiring 
others  to  aim  nobly  and  do  faithfully  ! 

"  A  letter  from  your  place  to  this  region,  speaks  heartily  of 
your  late  *  sermon '  on  '  Miss  Dix  ' ;  and  laments  that  such 
'sermons'  are  Mike  angels'  visits.' 

"  Will  Mrs.  Mann  inform  her  friend,  when  the  work  *  Christi- 
anity in  the  Kitchen '  is  to  be  out  ?  And  then,  when  is  the 
thing  to  be  in  the  kitchen  ? 


^m 


I' I. 


204    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"I  have  friends  who  are  experimenting  and  efforting  in  thai 
direction ;  to  whom  the  book  will  come  welcomely. 

'*!  want  to  ask  you  whether  you  know  from  experience  any 
substance  or  compound  that  will  nourish  the  Brain  ? 

"  Is  there  any  recent  work  on  the  Analysis  of  Diet-substances 
which  you  could  commend  to  me  ?  ' 

*' Friendly  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Mann  and  Horace,  George 
and  Bennie,  and  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dean. 

"  Peace  to  thy  House  and  thy  spirit !     Yours, 

"A.  Craig." 

Days  of  great  moment  to  the  struggling  college  were 
now  at  hand.     Its  storm-tossed  history  seemed  likely  to 
be  at  an  end  unless  aid  eame.     So  stormy  bad  it  been  and 
full  of  danger,  one  wonders,  bad  Mr.  Mann  realized  it  all, 
would  be   have   taken  ship  as  the  master  of  the  craft  f 
And  yet,  so  easy  would  it  have  been  at  various  times  for 
bim  to  have  left  the  craft  with  honour,  resigning  the  cap- 
taincy to  another ;  so  easily  could  be  bave  found  war- 
ranted excuse  in  greater  opportunities  for  good  elsewhere, 
in  foiling   health,  and   the  like.     It  would   bave   been 
natural  that  be  should  feel  under  obligations  to  go  ;  un- 
notewortby  bad  be  given  up  the  ship  to  another.  '  But 
this  heroic  figure  stood  ever  in  sight  of  the  reefs ;  he 
seemed  to  know  in  advance  the  full  scope  of  the  peril ;  he 
woidd  not,  be  could  not,  give  way  to  any  other  band  un- 
less it  sboidd  be  the  one  in  whose  guidance  be  felt  su- 
preme confidence. 

Writing  from  Yellow  Springs  in  July,  1857,  he  notes 
the  first  vital  change  in  the  life  history  of  the  college, 
following  bis  letter  up  swiftly  by  a  postscript,  written 
the  next  day  with  another  one  in  similar  strain  soon 
afterwards : 

"  yellow  springs,  July  ?,  i8';7. 
'*  My  dear  Mr.  Craig  :  ^     ^  ,j   j^j.     j/. 

"A  new  crisis  has  come  to  our  affairs. 
"First,  however,  let  me  say  that  we  have  had  a  glorious 


THE  CAPITULATION 


205 


Commencement.  Governor  Chase  was  here,  and  he  says  it 
surpassed  anything  he  ever  saw  in  Ohio.  Rev.  Dr.  Gannett 
was  here  from  Boston ;  and  he  says,  that,  in  all  the  particulars 
that  affect  a  moral  and  accountable  being,  they  never  have 
had  anything  to  compare  with  it  in  the  East. 

'*.  .  .  The  Board  has  met  and  elected  a  new  Board 
Antioch  College  has  '  failed.'  All  its  property  is  assigned  for 
the  payment  of  its  debts.  The  whole  scholarship  system  will 
be  abolished.  All  the  professors,  including  your  humble  serv- 
ant, were  decapitated  by  the  old  Board.  The  new  one,  how- 
ever,  did  replace  the  president's  head  before  the  flesh  and 
nerves  had  become  wholly  cold  and  lifeless ;  so  that  with  care 
they  may  stick  together  once  more.  ' 

"  A  new  faculty  is  to  be  formed,  and  the  cabinet  will  be  a 
unit  in  sentiment  and  purpose. 

**  Always  much,  but  now  more  than  ever,  must  the  Rev. 
Austin  Craig  come  to  the  rescue.  His  services  are  indis- 
pensable,—first,  as  chaplain,  to  preach  half  the  day  on  Sun- 
day, having  no  connection  with  the  village  but  that  of  cordi- 
ality and  reciprocity  of  good  works;  and  second,  that  of 
teaching,  more  or  less  as  health  may  permit. 

"  Now,  my  dear  friend,  we  have  a  chance  for  a  college  such 
as  was  never  known  before:  In  my  *  Baccalaureate,'  on 
Wednesday,  I  laid  down  the  great  doctrine,  that  the  power  of 
knowledge  ought  never  to  be  added  to  the  power  of  vice  •  that 
up  to  the  time  of  entering  a  college  class,  the  most  vicious  and 
abandoned  should  be  educated ;  and  the  more  so,  the  more  so 
But,  after  that,  none  but  the  virtuous,  the  earnest,  those  who 
give  confident  promise  of  righteousness  or  right-doing,  should 
be  invested  with  the  prerogatives  and  enchantments  of  knowl- 
edge. 

*'Now,  my  dear  friend,  I  feel  God-authorized  to  say  you 
must  come  and  work  with  us,  and,  when  my  mantle  falls  off, 
take  It  upon  your  shoulders.  I  see  no  alternative  but  this. 
Blooming  Grove,  compared  with  this,  is  but  the  tiniest  islet  to 
the  Western  continent.     .     .     . 

''  Yours  in  the  Lord  and  Antioch, 

*'  Horace  Mann." 

,, .  -  "  Antioch  College,  July  4,  1837. 

'*  My  dear  Mr.  Craig  :  s  ,j   y^,     :>/ 

**  Although  the  ink  is  hardly  dry  on  the  last  letter  I 


206    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

wrote  you,  yet,  having  a  chance  to  send  by  your  friends,  I  im- 
prove it. 

**  I  hardly  know  what  I  wrote  you  before ;  yet  I  know  I  wrote 
what  was  nearest  my  heart,  and  therefore  it  must  have  been 
about  your  coming  here.  If  you  would  do  so,  I  know  it  would 
be  the  turning-point  in  the  institution.  It  will  make  a  differ- 
ence of  many  students ;  and,  what  is  better,  it  will  make  a  dif- 
ference in  the  moral  and  religious  character  of  all.  How  gladly 
would  1  help  you  work  here  !  how  rejoicingly  I  would  leave 
you  here  when  I  am  called  away  !  I  know  we  have  a  chance 
for  an  institution  here  such  as  exists  in  no  other  part  of  the 
earth, — one  founded  on  the  love  of  truth  and  righteousness.  We 
have  the  power  of  saying,  and  of  maintaining  the  doctrine,  equally 
new  and  great,  that  we  will  graduate  none  but  true,  exemplary 
youth  ;  and  this  will  push  the  world  along  half  a  century  at  one 
impulse.  But,  to  all  the  good  things  I  plan,  you  appear  in  the 
foreground  of  the  picture.     .     .     . 

"  Pray  let  me  hear  from  you  soon.     .     .     .     These  matters 
must  be  settled  without  delay. 

"  Yours  as  ever,  and  more  so, 

*♦  Horace  Mann." 

''  Ant'toch  College,  July  i8,  1857. 
*'  My  dear  Mr.  Craig  : 

"Yours  of  the  nth  instant  has  reached  me  to-day. 
The  delay  has  given  me  restless  sleep  and  horrid  dreams ;  but 
your  letter  promises  a  pleasant  morning  after  a  dreary  night. 

"First,  I  send  you  a  catalogue:  second,  I  am  afraid  you 
want  more  exactness  of  detail,  than  it  will  be  possible  for  me, 
in  our  present  disorganized  state,  to  give ;  but  I  can  make  one 
assurance  sure, —that  we  love  you  too  well,  and  believe  that  the 
Lord  has  too  much  for  you  to  do  hereafter  for  Antioch  College, 
to  allow  us  to  put  your  health  in  peril. 

"I  feel  as  though  I  could  yet,  in  desperate  circumstances, 

perform  a  great  amount  of  labour,  and  so  does  R ;  and 

what  you  can't  do,  I  hope  we  can.      What  is  wanted  is,  that 

you,  temporarily,  should  fill  Mr.  's  place.     The  college 

and  school  are  so  utterly  dissatisfied  with  him,  that  it  is  said  the 
whole  of  our  to-be  seniors  would  leave  if  he  is  retained,  and  at 
least  half  of  all  the  other  college  classes.  The  case,  therefore, 
is  desperate. 

*'     •     •     •     Six  thousand  dollars  are  to  be  raised  by  sub- 


THE  CAPITULATION 


207 


scription,  which,  with  the  expected  income  from  tuition  and 
rooms,  IS  thought  to  be  sutiticient  to  pay  the  teachers  at  about 
the  same  rate  as  heretofore ;  and  I  think  you  should  be  paid 
according  to  the  proportion  of  your  labours.  But  on  this  point 
my  dear  friend,  you  must  trust  to  the  Lord  a  little,  and  while 
you  are  reasonably  careful  about  earthly  treasure,  lay  up  some- 
thing in  the  upper  treasury,  whose  officers  never  embezzle  or 
defalcate.  You  will  be  worth  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  moral 
interests  of  the  college ;  and  all  this  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be 
transferred  to  your  account  in  the  book  of  life.  As  to  the 
future,  you  know  what  I  hope  and  intend  for  you. 

**  Yours  as  ever, 

"Horace  Mann." 

Mr.  Mann  found  it  impossible  to  free  his  mind  of  the 
belief  that  the  coming  of  his  dearest  friend  to  Antioch 
would  save  the  day.  Again  and  again  he  wrote  urging 
Mr.  Craig  to  come.  On  August  17,  1857,  Mr.  Craig 
wrote  a  letter  in  which  he  defined  his  position  even  more 
pointedly,  making  it  clear  beyond  perad venture  that  he 
did  not  then  feel  it  his  duty  to  leave  Blooming  Grove.  In 
the  letter  he  says  : 

"After  many  fluctuations  of  feeling,  I  am  conscious  that  I 
have  not  at  any  time  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  take  the  post  to 
which  you  invite  me.  It  is  in  my  power  to  say  that  in  deter- 
mining my  duty  in  any  case  of  recognized  importance  as  this  is. 
I  do  not  overlook  my  need  of  the  highest  illumination  and 
guidance.  I  have  not  been  able  hitherto  in  the  use  of  (as  I 
suppose)  the  proper  means,  to  arrive  at  any  sense  of  duty  in 
tins  matter  of  coming  to  '  Antioch.'  I  preach  to  others,  that 
LJght  is  to  be  waited  for,  and  that  we  do  well  to  stand  still  un- 
til we  are  satisfied  of  the  Divine  call  to  go  forward. 

*' Furthermore,  my  dear  sir,  in  my  inmost  contemplating  of 
he  duties  of  the  proposed  post  in  '  Antioch  '  in  contrast  with 
the  quiet  (to  me  so  attractive)  of  the  country  pastor's  life ;  I 
have  found  it  really  impossible  to  wish  to  come  thither.  My 
heart  is  not  there.  How  can  I  help  that  ?  Without  any  sense 
of  duty  to  make  me  feel  strong  in  the  self-denial,  and  without 
a  feeling  of  attraction  to  the  place  and  its  duties,  how  could 


'$  I: 


tl 


1* 


208    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

I  be  otherwise  than  weak  and   unavailing  there,  or  anywheie 
under  the  same  conditions  ? 

*'  Have  I  not  presented  really  a  strong  case?  My  feelings  of 
sympathy  with  you  in  the  manifold  perplexities  of  your  position 
demand  from  me  friendly  words  (and  sometimes  upward-look- 
ing ones),  but  I  must  not  permit  them  to  blind  me  to  the  fact 
that  1  feel  no  call  of  duty  to  come  to  you.  It  has  occurred  to 
me  that  Rev.  E.  G.  Holland  (a  '  Christian  '  minister)  for  some 
two  years  resident  for  study  and  observation's  sake  in  Germany, 
and  now  (I  suppose)  on  his  return,  might  be  found  an  accept- 
able and  efficient  man  for  the  post.  His  turn  of  mind  is  to- 
wards Belles  Lettres. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  send  you  this  letter.  But  I  must  tell  you  the 
truth ;  and  this  letter  contains  the  truth  (as  it  is  to  me)  in  rela- 
tion  to  this  matter. 

«•  May  God  make  you  strong,  and  give  you  the  true  success. 

"Austin  Craig." 

Deep  sadness  came  to  the  president  upon  receipt  of 
this  letter. 

"I  have  received  your  late  letter,"  he  writes,  ''extinguish- 
ing all  my  hopes.  I  have  no  doubt  of  your  being  able  to  justify 
to  your  own  conscience  the  conclusion  to  which  you  have  come. 
It  would,  indeed,  be  most  lamentable,  if,  to  the  indescribable 
evils,  consequent  upon  your  decisions,  that  of  any  conscious  in- 
terference of  choice  with  duty  were  added. 

"I  will  now  say  in  strictest  confidence  to  you  what  I  have 
never  said  to  any  living  being  before,  not  even  to  my  wife, — 
that  the  probability  of  my  continuing  for  any  length  of  time  in 
my  present  position  is  very  slight." 

He  then  recounts  the  sad  straits  into  which  the  college 
has  fallen  through  the  leaving  of  professors  and  the  at- 
tacks of  enemies.  ''  It  would  have  had  the  appearance 
of  rashness/^  he  adds,  speaking  of  one  of  the  acts  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  *'and  perhaps  of  passion,  had  I  re- 
signed at  once;  and  I  shall  do  nothing  to  prejudice  the 
institution  when  I  leave  it.  ...  I  do  not  know  what 
will  come ;  but  one  thing  I  mean  at  all  events  to  do,— 


THE  CAPITULATION 


209 


to  keep  a  conscience  void  of  offense  towards  God  and 
niau.'^ 

But  brighter,  even  if  temporary,  light,  came  upon  him 
and  he  resolved  to  make  one  last  effort,  this  time  in  per- 
son. So  he  went  all  the,  then,  long  journey  of  oyer  eight 
hundred  miles,  to  Blooming  Grove,  met  the  pastor  on  his 
own  ground  and  won  his  case.  It  was  a  momentous  strug- 
gle on  the  part  of  both  men.  The  more  so  as  each  one  of 
them  was  absolutely  devoted  to  the  right.  Soon  after 
Mr.  Craig  received  the  following  letter  to  which  the 
answer  is  given : 

''Antioch  College,  Sept.  77,  1837, 
"  Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Craig  :  r      ,       j/ 

"I  saved  the  college  by  going  to  Blooming  Grove  and 
secunng  your  services  in  it ;  but  1  came  near  losing  myself. 
For  thirty-six  hours  after  I  left  you,  I  was  more  ill  than  1  have 
been  for  years.  I  laid  by  at  Dunkirk  over  Sunday ;  and  was 
just  able  to  reach  home,  se?ni  auimus,  on  Monday.  Well,  I  had 
this  to  console  myself  with,— if  1  got  you,  though  I  killed  my- 
self, 1  had  made  a  great  bargain. 

"Our  school  opens  grandly  with  about  a  hundred  new 
students,  and  a  better-looking  class  of  students  than  we  have 
ever  hud  before.  These  students  have  all  been  brought  here 
by  our  reputation  :  they  have  not  come  to  save  six  dollars  a 
year  on  a  scholarship.  They  evidently  come  from  the  more  in- 
telligent class  in  the  community,  and  thereby  show  where  our 
strength  is  growing.  I  have  great  expectations  from  your  con- 
nection with  the  college.  I  understand  there  is  great  jubilation 
among  the  students,— a  double  jubilation  indeed,— one  for 
those  who  are  to  come  to  help  us,  and  one  on  account  of  those 
who  are  not.  Your  presence  is  looked  for  most  anxiously. 
1  he  contrast  between  you  and  your  predecessor  in  this  branch 
will  be  immense. 

"  We  are  all  well.  I  have  had  a  dreadfully  hard  time  since  I 
returned.  I  want  to  tell  you  how  the  ungodly  were  caught  in 
their  own  snare  ;  but  this  must  be  when  you  get  here.  Our 
arms  are  all  open  to  receive  you.     .     .     . 

**  Your  friend, 

**  Horace  Mann." 


^Iil 


1^11 1* 


\\l 


210    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"  B Zooming  Grove ^  N.  K,  Sept.  2j,  i8^y, 
"  Dear  Friend  Mr.  Mann  : 

**  Yours  of  the  17th  instant  arrived  yesterday. 

**  The  large  number  of  new  students,  at  such  a  time  as  this, 
promises  well  for  the  future  of  Antioch,  I  think. 

**The  Programme  of  Logic  and  Rhetoric  recitations  is  well 
arranged  fur  me. — Thank  you  ! 

"  I  am  in  the  midst  of  a  chaos — outwardly  and  inwardly. 
Outwardly,  as  respects  the  puUing-down  and  packing-up  in- 
cident to  my  removal  ;  and  inwardly,  the  conflict  of  uncertainty 
whether  I  am  clearly  in  the  way  of  duty;  the  sadness  of  leav- 
ing friends  here  who  look  upon  my  stay  with  them  as  the  pros- 
pering of  their  church-interests,— our  meetings,  since  you  were 
here,  are  semi-funereal,  and  a  foreboding,  at  times,  that  all  will 
be  failure  at  Antioch, — as  far  as  my  coming  thither  is  con- 
cerned. To  occupy  the  position,  which  another  must  regard 
as  rightfully  his  own,  will  require  great  circumspection  and 
Christian  prudence.  I  beg  that  you  will  not  permit  your 
friendliness  towards  me  to  make  you  speak  anything  in  my  be- 
half calculated  to  raise  expectations  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
are  to  be  my  pupils.  Leave  me,  I  j)ray  you,  unnoticed.  1  will 
do  the  best  I  can  ;  but  I  am  confident  that  my  shortcomings 
will  be  watched,  if  not  by  students,  by  those  to  whom  any  failure 
or  shortcoming  in  the  vacated  chairs  will  be  only  too  noticeable. 

*•  For  a  kindred  reason,  I  wish  that  you  would  not  distin- 
guish me  in  any  way  above  my  co  workers.  Do  not  announce 
me  in  public  as  Rev.  Doctor  !  My  dear  sir,  I  have  as  much 
'  powder '  aboard  as  almost  any  man.  Don't  inflame  my 
vanity  !  I  have  heretofore  said  nothing  to  you  about  that.  I 
am  afraid,  among  other  considerations,  that  it  will  make  me 
the  object  of  disagreeable  attentions  from  my  '  Christian ' 
brethren.  I  have  written  a  semi-jocose  essay  on  Clerical 
Titles,  which  I  am  thinking  to  send  to  the  Christian  Herald 
and  Messenger. 

"  But,  at  any  rate,  do  not  make  me  conspicuous. — I  ask  it 
for  the  sake  of  our  general  good,  as  well  as  on  account  of  my 
private  feelings. 

"  I  foresee  that  great  wisdom  and  long-suffering  forbearance 
are  now  necessary  to  give  the  college  success.  Many— many 
hard  words  and  unjust  surmises  and  unkind  acts,  may  be  met. 
May  we  be  '  armed '  all  over  with  Faith,  Patience  and  Meek- 
ness ! 


THE  CAPITULATION 


211 


"If  you  would  write  me  again  to  reach  me  before  starting, 
finally,  for  Yellow  Springs,  address  me  at  Frankford,  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

'*  With  affectionate  regards  to  your  family, 

**  Yours, 

"Austin  Craig." 

In  a  day  when  the  huge  figure  of  Theodore  Parker 
loomed  high  amidst  those  who  took  part  in  the  prevailing 
theological  discussion  and  dissensions,  when  that  pioneer 
among  the  liberals,  with  his  biting  satire  and  his  de- 
nunciation of  cant  and  his  devotion  to  truth,  as  truth 
revealed  itself  to  him,  was  fighting  the  great  battle  of  his 
life,  it  was  not  always  a  desirable  thing  for  a  man  in  the 
van  of  orthodoxy  to  be  kno\vn  as  a  friend,  even  as  a  pass- 
ing acquaintance,  of  this  Titan  of  pulpiteers.  In  his  own 
words  Parker  has  shown  how  alone  he  was  in  the  world, 
bow  shut  away  from  sympathetic  friendships,  save  the 
splendid  friendship  of  his  great  congregation  ;  but  Horac-e 
Mann  knew  Theodore  Parker  to  the  core  and  he  was  thus 
more  than  willing  to  write  this  brief  note  : 

M  T^  T?        T^  T.  '*  March  i,  1858. 

"  To  Rev.  Theodore  Parker. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Parker  : 

*'  I  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  to  your  acquaint- 
ance one  of  my  dearest  friends,  and  one  of  the  best  and  truest 
of  men,— the  Rev.  Austin  Craig. 

"You  and  he  may  not  agree  in  exegesis;  but  I  know  no 
two  men  who,  m  all  matters  of  duty  to  man,  or  love  to  God 
would  be  more  in  unison. 

"  1  commend  him  to  your  fellowship;  and  remain,  as  ever, 

"  Most  truly  yours, 

"Horace  Mann." 

One  of  the  last  letters  written  by  Horace  Mann  to  Dr. 
Craig  closes  like  a  benediction.  It  was  in  the  year  of  the 
former^s  death,  near  the  close  of  a  service  in  which,  liter- 
ally and  figuratively,  he  had  offered  himself  as  a  sacrifice. 


\^'\  t 


\h 


ifi 


2f3     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

And  yet,  no  matter  what  the  future  might  hold  in  its 
darkness,  nor  liow  near  Death  walked,  he  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity for  further  serviee,  negleeted  no  opportunity  to 
enlist  the  serv  ices  of  others  in  every  way  possible  in  the 
mission  to  which  he  was  consecrated.  The  letter  in  q ues- 
tion  is  as  follows  : 

,.  ivyr  *.      ^  *'  ^^^^^^^  Spf-ings,  March  j,  i8s8. 

"  Mv  DEAR  Mr.  Craig  :  *^ 

''  You  have  not  yet  been  gone  two  days,  and  we  are 
all  homesick  for  you  already.  My  ears  tingle  to  know  what 
you  are  saymg  and  doing  at  Stafford  to-day. 

**     .     .     .     Doubtless  it  will  be  given  you  in  that  selfsame 
hour  what  you  shall  say :   but,  among  the  things  which  you  do 
say,  I  trust  you  will  not  omit  to  dwell  with  earnest,  apostoHc 
unction  upon   the   character  of  our   students  ;  their  freedom 
from  almost   all  the  vices  and  evil  habits  which  are  common- 
place in  other  colleges ;   the  security  of  gardens  and  orchards 
and  vineyards  who/iy  from  any  depredations  of  theirs;  on  the 
fact  that  both   the   men  and  women  of  the  village  have  been 
watching  the  past  season   for  offenders  against  the  temperance 
laws,  yet  never  has  suspicion  rested  on  one  of  our  students  of 
having  so  much   as  visited  a  drinking  saloon  or  other  similar 
resort;   the  feelmg  with  which  the  young  men  are  regarded  by 
the  ladies  of  the  place;   the  high,  elevated,  and  often  religious 
tone  of  their  exercises,  whether  for  exhibition  or  class  compo- 
sitions;  and    what    I    think    will    strike    your   audience    very 
lorcibly,— the   fact  that,  among   all  who  have  gone  out  from 

here  from  all  the  classes, is  the  only  bigot  1  know  of 

1  hey  go  out,  generally,  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance 
o\  religious  truth,  but  enquirers,  not  dogmatizers. 

"  And  now,  my  dear,  very  dear  friend,  may  peace  and  bless- 
mg  attend  you  all  the  days  of  your  life  ! 

"1  know  Mrs.   Mann  would    send   indefinite  quantities  of 
love  If  she  were  here,  and  so  would  the  childers. 

"  Ever  and  truly  yours, 

**  Horace  Mann." 

Leaving  these  letters,  redolent  with  the  perfume  of  a 
splendid  friendship  flowering  in  the  devoted  lives  of  two 
noble  Americans,  we  may  turn  to  the  more  active  part 


THE  CAPITULATION 


213 


vrhich  the  younger  of  them  was  to  play  in  helping  for- 
ward the  institution  which  had  promised  so  much  and 
which,  in  some  way,  in  spite  of  all  its  untowardness,  had 
in  it  the  power  to  draw  out  the  very  best  effort  of  those 
who  became  identified  with  it. 


f  p 


I 'I! 


H 


'iN 


M^t 


XII 

ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION 

THE  intense  toil,  unrelieved  by  rests  and  embit- 
tered  by  constant  discouragements,  told  heavily 
upon  the  devoted  president.  As  the  year  1858 
wore  on  it  became  apparent  to  his  friends  that,  unless  a 
respite  of  some  kind  came,  the  fatal  end  could  not  lon^ 
be  put  off.  And  the  respite  to  Horace  Mann  never  came! 
but  death  mercifully  did.  ' 

«n?  ^  h!T^.  ""^  ^^"'  ^^^'""''  ^'^'  P^^P^^^^  by  his  wife 
and  published  some  forty  years  ago,-not  long  after  his 

death  --she  speaks  in  these  words  of  the  situation  and  of 

the  effort  of  Mr.  Mann  still  further  to  a^ociate  Mr.  Craig 

with  him  in  the  work  at  Antioch  : 

"From  this  time  -November,  1858,— the  tired  brain  knew 
no  more  respite.  Labours  accumulated,  because  a  failure  of 
the  funds  that  had  been  privately  subscribed  to  pay  the   acuity 

Sme'ntTha?'''^/"""  "'j'^"  ^"  '''''  ^^^'^  ^"^'-  ^-  ^m 
ployment  that   would    pay  their   current    expenses;    and  this 

hrew  more  work  upon  those  who  were  left.     Again  Mr   Mann 
implored   Mr.  Craig  to  stand  by  the  institution!  and    usta  nit 
with  his  valuable  influence  as  long  as  it  floated  upon  the  waves 
of  uncertainty,  vvhich  were  rendered  more  boisterous  than  eve 
by  contending  elements.     But  Mr.  Craig  had  lost  hooe   and 

r  Ma'n'n"  T  ^'T'^'  ''^  '"^"'^  ^^^'-     He  fdt  th^h:- 
Pirhi  .K  '  '"''''^'''^  ^^  *^^  Sre^^  ^  disadvantage,  and  that 

ether  the  community  around  him  must  be  more !ym pathetic 

fm  ds  tn  T'ur^''  ""'  '^'  '^^'"^^  "^"^^  be  sustained  by  amp  e 
ttfal^^lTJ!''  "  ^°  ^"  -^ependently  of  the  evil  inLenc'es 

Dr.   Craig   had    given    himself  in  the  cause  of  his 

214 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       215 

friend  unstintedly.  He  had  helped  at  great  personal 
sacrifice  in  time  and  effort  to  support  Mr.  Mann,  and  he 
had  come  to  believe  that  the  president  should  no  longer 
sacrifice  himself  in  a  losing  cause. 

But  the  fight  went  on  against  overwhelming  odds,  and 
after  a  season  of  the  most  intense  and  exquisitely  refined 
mental  and  bodily  pain  the  sad  end  came  and  a  great 
American  went  to  his  reward. 

AH  through  the  period  of  his  relations  to  Antioch  Mr. 
Mann  had  hoped  for  a  time  to  come  when,  the  institution 
fitted  and  equipped  for  the  largest  possible  service,  his 
friend,  in  whom  he  had  implicit  trust,  might  be  called  to 
become  the  head  of  Antioch  ;  but  though  that  end  was  at 
last  reached  by  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  the  institu- 
tion, it  was  not  until  several  years  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Mann. 

In  March,  1858,  the  financial  condition  of  the  college 
l)oiug  in  most  wretched  shape,  a  committee  was  appointed 
at  a  convention  of  the  Christian  church  held  at  Stafford, 
New  York,  to  make  out  an  appeal  for  aid  for  the  college, 
first  of  all  to  the  members  of  the  Christian  denomination. 
Dr.  Craig  was  a  member  of  this  committee  and  prepared 
the  appeal.  It  was  an  extensive  paper,  a  genuine  docu- 
ment of  the  church,  thoughtful,  sane,  reasonable,  diplo- 
matic without  being  shifty,  bearing  the  unmistakable 
marks  of  the  charity,  the  clarity,  and  the  shrewd  common 
sense  of  its  author.  He  traced  in  the  appeal  the  course 
through  which  Antioch  had  passed,  drawing  a  parallel  on 
the  way  between  the  early  history  of  the  Christian  de- 
nomination and  the  history  of  the  movement  which  Paul 
headed  in  the  days  of  the  ancient  Antioch  hard  by  the 
l)lue  Mediterranean.  He  noted,  too,  that  while  many  of 
tlie  pioneer  preachers  of  the  new  faith  were  illiterate 
men  they  were  ^^good  men  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  of  faith.''     At  the  same  time,  the  lack  of  an  educated 


lvV 


1™^ 


''I . , 


t  tj*! 


f1 


. !» 


216     LIFE  AND  LETTERo  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

ministry  worked  against  the  denomination,  especially  in 
the  cities  where  *'the  earlier  preachers  met  with  little 
success  in  addressing  the  more  cultivated  classes." 
They  had  *  bailed  to  obtaiu  an  adequate  hearing  from 
the  educated  and  intiueutial  portions  of  society.^^ 

Dr.  Craig  showed  how  the  members  of  his  faith  had 
gradually  come  to  see  that  education  w«as  imperative  and 
that  a  school  of  their  own  was  desirable.  He  recounted 
the  meeting  seven  years  before  in  the  interests  of  the 
college  when  the  long  pent-up  waters  broke  forth  with  a 
rush  as  the  gray-haired  old  ministers  sadly  told  how 
their  lives  had  been  hampered  by  insufficient  education. 
He  outlined  in  clear,  unmistakable  language  the  sub- 
sequent history  of  Antioch,  how  it  was  decided  to  endow 
the  college  by  scholarships  of  one  hundred  dollai-s  each, 
selling  to  a  person  for  that  amount  a  perpetual  right 
to  have  one  pupil  educated  at  the  college ;  how  promis- 
sory notes,  instead  of  cash,  wei-e  accepted  for  these 
hundred-dollar  pledges ;  how  over  eleven  hundred 
scholarships  were  sold  ;  but  by  far  the  larger  pro- 
portion of  them  were  never  paid  for, — save  in  promises 
to  pay  ! 

The  erection  of  the  college  buildings  which,  for  that 
day,  were  really  splendid  academic  structures,  was  re- 
counted. The  financial  condition  of  the  college  was  then 
clearly  set  forth.  It  appeared  that  the  institution  was 
about  seventy  thousand  dollars  in  debt  with  no  hope  of 
liquidation.  The  board  of  trustees  had  made  an  assign- 
ment of  the  college  property  for  the  benefit  of  the  cred- 
itors of  the  college.  At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the 
board  it  appeared  that  the  college  had  been  unable  to 
pay  its  debts  from  the  start  and  was  going  into  debt 
at  the  rate  of  ten  thousand  dollai-s  a  year. 

Incidentally  it  was  clearly  shown  that  co-education 
at  Antioch  had  been  successful.    This  was  particularly 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       217 

interesting  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  college 
in  the  world  to  open  its  doors  to  young  men  and  women 
upon  an  equal  footing.  Dr.  Craig,  far  in  advance  of  his 
generation  as  he  so  many  times  was,  had  himself  ad- 
vocated co-education  years  before  this.  Interesting  in 
this  connection,  also,  is  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  col- 
lege to  provide  for  the  admission  of  the  black  race. 

The  whole  appeal  was  a  miisterly  presentation  of  the 
situation.  It  no  doubt  did  much  good  but  there  was  a 
class  of  persons  who  appeared  to  be  satisfied  with  noth- 
ing less  than  a  complete  subversion  of  the  i)resent  insti- 
tution. Some  of  those  of  more  narrow  vision  in  the 
Christian  denomination  felt  that  the  interest  taken  in 
the  college  by  men  who  were  liberally  inclined  theolog- 
ically was  a  dangerous  omen.  These  were  outspoken  in 
their  denunciation.  Dr.  Craig  had  been  the  preacher 
at  Antioch  for  one  school  year,  as  noted  in  the  chapter 
dealing  with  his  pastorate  at  Blooming  Grove, — while 
at  the  same  time  temporarily  filling  the  chair  of  Greek. 
In  March,  1859,  the  year  of  Mr.  Mann's  death,  he 
answered  one  of  the  critics  in  a  clearly -set- forth  letter 
showing  the  topics  he  had  discussed  in  sermons  during 
his  stay  at  the  college.  It  was  one  of  the  steadily  re- 
iterated charges  that  the  institution  was  leaning  towards 
the  liberalism  of  Theodore  Parker.  Prominent  men  in 
the  more  liberal  branches, — the  offshoots  of  the  great 
orthodox  church,  slightly  to  change  the  figure, — and 
those  who  were  in  little,  if  any,  sense,  orthodox,  had 
been  among  the  welcomed  lecturers  at  the  college.  Such 
men  as  Emerson,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  and  Theodore 
Parker  himself  had  appeared  before  the  students  and  had 
been  warmly  received. 

In  the  letter  referred  to  Dr.  Craig  gave  a  list  of  his 
twenty-eight  addresses  during  the  college  year,  all  of 
them,  while  not  essentially  orthodox  in  the  Calvinistic 


A 


;i  < ' 


H 


21S    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIX  CRAIG 

m,  were  unquestionably  orthodox   in   the  Christian 
Ueuomination's  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures. 

,J'7°"  T^  observe,"  he  says,  concluding  his  letter  "that 
he  series  began  mth  the  Crucified  Saviour  and  end;d  ui.h 
he  Judgment      Ten  weeks  after  the  la.s.  sermoT  was  preached 

ou   teTr  n°Lt'::r'r'^°''?V^^  'l!'''"'''  ^^^ 
"ui    uremren    agauist      recent    Antioch    renovations;   tnA    ,u^ 

substitution  of  the  hberahstic  theology  f^r  Chrilliani^v^     U 

latter.\^;d  I  'a!;:  r^y  IcTitrt."     '  ^'  '""  "  ^^'  "°'  '»><= 

brk-Sv  to''b'"''r  '".''""■''  ""■  ^'•''*»  --efe,^  nc^ds  only 
brutij,   to  be  refe.T,.,l  („  here.     It  wa.s  an   iuterestin/ 

niou,h    unfortunate    feature    of    the    situatiotf    .    S 

A  ti  J  ."■".  "V"""'=""'^'   -"^   "'""gh    its  attacks  upon 
Ant.o^^h,  chietly  ,n  the  fonn  of  half-truths  and  innuendo 

IS  nit  of       t'**"""  '^'^  ""'  '^"'*^^-  ^'"'  '•«=''  •ruth,  it 
t  ^ .  1-         r     ^"'"'  *"^""''«^='"y   for  elaborati;n. 

An    ,  h        ""     '  T,  ^'"  '"'''  •'**"  ^°  '"^tructor  at 
Ant  o  ,,      It  purported  to  be  a  "History  of  the  Rise 

D.n.eult.es,  and  Suspension  of  Antio,.h  College  "  ' 

o.n!;.l"Dfc""/"r  '"'"''  "'"  ^"  ""^'-'di-'K.  it  at  htst 
fo-.^Ml      In  '  ""^'"'^  ""*  '""R'T  remain  be- 

f,  ..;>  '    ,   ^^'  •""'  *""''  *^*'  '^"ok  in  hand  and  effec- 

tually disposed  of  it.     He  p„i„,,.d  out  that  it  was  an  t^n 

ana  sineertty  of  the  .an^r :  ^  dlarJ^^Z 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       219 

fact  that,  alter  his  manuscript  was  completed,  he  kept 
it  back  for  three  mouths  to  make  sure  that  his  state- 
ments were  not  warped  by  the  just  indignation  it  had 
aroused.  During  tliese  three  mouths  whenever  he  came 
into  what  he  called  his  **  calmest  moments, ''  he  would  go 
over  the  manuscript  again  and  again,  striking  out  what- 
ever he  might  thiuk  harsh  or  unkind.  He  rewrote  the 
manuscript  four  times  and  then,  still  further  to  fortify 
himself  against  any  possible  harshness  and  to  make  sure 
that  his  reply  to  the  misstatements  was  unobjectionable  in 
both  expression  and  spirit,  he  sent  the  manuscript  to  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  respected  ministers  in  the  de- 
nomination requesting  him  to  point  out  any  i^assages  or 
words  which  he  might  think  *'  objectionable  on  the  ground 
of  Charity." 

Dr.  Craig  himself  put  the  matter  in  graphic  form  in 
SJiying  that  the  simple  facts  in  reference  to  the  misstate- 
ments were  so  like  cannon-balls  that  a  man  void  of 
animosity  might  wish  to  wrap  them  well  in  velvet  before 
projecting  them  forth. 

Many  of  the  points  raised,  and  which  were  deftly  and 
for  all  time  brushed  away  by  Dr.  Craig,  would  have  little 
interest  to  the  geaeral  reader  to-day,  though  they  were  of 
vital  moment  at  a  time  when  the  struggling  institution 
needed  every  possible  support  and  encouragement. 
Some  unkind  thrusts  were  aimed  at  Dr.  Craig.  There 
was  a  covert  charge  that  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with, 
and  did  not  in  his  chapel  services  inculcate,  the  essential 
beliefs  of  the  Christian  denomination,  that  he  differed 
from  all,  or  nearly  all,  members  of  the  Christian  church. 

In  sharply  defined  sentences  Dr.  Craig  refuted  the 
statements  and  proved  his  steadfast  devotion  to  what 
were  the  real  tenets  of  his  faith.  Frequently  in  the 
book  Mr.  Mann  was  attacked  in  open  or  covert  language, 
one  of  the  points  raised  being  his  particular  interest  in 


'iliM'l 


II! 


mm 


i"»f' 


f'l' 


220     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLX  CRAIG 

Dr.  Cnii^  ami,  hence,  tUvouritism  to  him.     The  fad  that 
duriii^r   l>ie8i(i(i)t   Manu'ii  absences  from  the  college  he 
left  Dr.  Craig  in  eliarge  i;'dvt*  ris«i  to  Jeah)usy  on  the  i)art 
of  thi«  otlier  man.     .Som**  of  the  expressions  applied  to 
Mr.    Mann   were  not  only  l)rutal  l)nt  grotes(iuely  absurd 
charging  him   with    -enielty,-    with    '^  most  despicable 
injustice,'^   and  the   like.     Fretpiently  the  writer  of  the 
book  indulged  in  words  wholly  uubecouiing  a  gentleman. 
Mauyof  the  statements  began  with  ^' it  is  said,»»  follow^ 
ing  this  up  with  untruths  uttered  by  some  mythical  tliird 
party.      "I   do  not  cpiestion    the   fact,"    comnuMils    Dr. 
Craig   on   one   statement,    ^'that   somebody    *  told '   Mr. 

A these  bitter  words;  for  men   with  diseased  livers 

may   be   found  even  in   Ohio;    but   it  is  strange  that  a 
bistonan  should  <leem  Jaundice  historical  authority." 

An  illustration  of  the  despicable  unfairness  of  the  book 
is  the  insinuation   ma<le   (hat   Dr.  Craig  had  done  great 
harm  to  the  church  in  substituting  certain  reading  circles 
for  Sabbath  evening  prayer-meetings  during  his  stay  at 
Antioch.     The  Habbath  evening  meetings  in  vogue  when 
Dr.    (;raig   reached   Antioch    were   attended  by  a  mere 
handful  of  students.     One  January  evening  there  were 
but  six  present  and  Dr.  Craig  proposed  that  they  remove 
from    the   sombre   schoolroom  where    the    meetings  had 
been  lield  to  the  bright  and  cheery  Ladies'  Hall  and  in- 
vite  in  all  the  studt^nts  for  religious  reading  and  conver- 
sation.    T\w  result  was  that  about  a  liundnd  responded 
to  an  invitation  which  was  in  direct  line  with  the  newer 
and  sancT  ways  of  studying  the  vital  truths  of  the  Bible. 
Kow  and  then  at  the  meetings  extracts  were  read  from 
famous  writers  on  some  germane  subject,  and,  as  was  to 
be  expect(Hl,   the  interest  was  lively  and  sustained  under 
such  a  leader. 

The  charge  in  tlie  book  of  introducing  in  Antioch  a 
more  liberal  Christianity,  or  the  substitution  of  ^'Theo- 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       221 

dore  Parkerisni"  for  Christianity,  was  particularly 
aimed,  as  he  well  knew,  at  Dr.  Craig.  He  answered 
the  chargii  with  consummate  skill.  Without  being  harsh 
be  was  yet  exactingly  truthful,  and  without  being  either 
venomous  or  spiteful,  he  was  yet  unsparingly  just. 
He  gave  in  clear  phrase  a  sketch  of  his  introductory 
sermon  on  entering  the  college  for  bis  period  of  temporary 
teaching,  showing  that  he  was  clearly  within,  and  kept 
within,  the  limits  of  his  denomination.  The  central  fact 
in  the  sermon  was  that  the  marrow  and  life  of  the  Gospel  is 
Christ ;  not  a  system  of  theological  ideas,  nor  a  code  of 
ecclesiastical  polity,  but  an  incarnated  divine  Person, 
containing  and  expressing  *'all  the  fullness  of  the  God- 
head," and,  therefore,  filling  all  things.  ^^  Take  Christ 
out  of  the  Gospcil,"  he  said,  ''  and  you  leave  it  meauing- 
l(\ss  and  unprofitable:  ^Without  Me,  ye  can  do  noth- 
ing.'" He  laid  special  stress,  also,  on  the  statement: 
The  blood  of  Christ  is  the  one  foundation  of  evangelical 
conviction  of  sin  and  assurance  of  pardon. 

The  saving  sense  of  humour  was  one  of  Dr.  Craig's 
attributes.  His  wit  was  keen  and  facile,  and  though  he 
never  allowed  his  equipment  in  this  line  to  lead  him,  by 
ridicule,  to  take  unfair  advantage  of  an  adversary,  he 
yet  sometimes  very  effectively  made  use  of  it.  In  a  letter 
to  the  editor  of  the  Gospd  Herald^  Dr.  Craig  took  oc- 
casion to  sustain  his  claim  as  being  a  loyal  member  of 
the  Christian  denomination  in  these  words  ; 


"  I  have  never  been  connected  with  any  denomination  except 
the  'Christians.*  My  early  years  were  familiar  with  their 
teachings,  and  with  the  persons  of  many  of  their  esteemed 
preachers.  In  my  father's  house,  while  I  was  yet  a  child,  I 
heard  the  Gospel  preached,  and  the  Trinity  exploded  to  atoms, 
by  Simon  Clough  and  Joseph  Badger  and  Abigail  Roberts  and 
Barzillai  H.  Miles  and  Isaac  N.  Walter,— all  departed  now  I 
I  could  mention  the  names  of  *  Christian '  ministers  whose 


II 


I  I' 


ji  ,i« 


I*  i* 


II' 


222    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLX  CRAIG 

hands  were  laid  on  my  head,  many  years  before  thai  lavine  on 
of  hands  which  made  ine  '  Elder  Craig.' 

"I  reme.nber  Simon  Clough's  big  white  hat,  a  little  foxy 
as  It  looked   almost  thirty  years  ago.     I  remember   Pliileius 
Roberts,  when  he  was  yet  a  stripling  and  beginning  to  '  exhort ' 
in   public,   how  he   looked    (rising    up   after  William    Lane's 
triumphant,  solemn-sounding  voice  ha.l  ceased)  with  a  hand 
kerchief  in  his  outstretched  hand,  and  big  tears  on  his  cheeks 
Twenty-five   years   ago,   I    heard    'Father   Nutt'   (Elder 
Samuel  Nutt)  read  before  our  evening  devotions  the  entire  his 
tory  of  the  'Plagues  of  Egypt  '  at  once ;  and,  when  I  hea  d 
him  preach,  I  did  not  wonder  that  he  had  converted  people  on 
both  sides  of  a  river   at  the  snmp  iim»  i     i  i,„         f>-"F'c  uu 
KmkaHp  I      An,l  V  f        r  '     ^  ^^^^  ''''"°st  seen 

Th  Ki     n  ,  ^,''^°'^  '  "'^^  "="  y^"'^  "'<!.  I  had  read  in  his 

brilr  paSh     '"    ''°"  ^'  «"'  ''"  ""''  ^''^''^  ^>'  ^^"^^'"6  in  a 

Elder^r/ff •!''''"  ^  '?  T"'  ^'^'"  '  '^"  y°"'  howl  heard 
Elder  Goff  s  earnest,  solemn  tones  in  |,rayer  a  long  while  be- 
fore I  shared  w„h  him  in  1848  the  duties  and  joys  of  his  on 
pastoral  charge  m  Camptown  ?     Shall  I  roll  back  twenty  yea  s 

hea  t  asT.  ^l''""  I''  ""^  f '"""'«  ^^''"^^'^^  my  c'hildish 
heart  as  h  s  kind  eyes  beamed  on  me  through  his  gold  spec- 

Sh' ,?',  ?;     •"'    r'^'^y    "'"'""«    voice    dehgh.ed    my   ,^1  ? 

Flli    Jn       Tr'tv^  y,ff'-'"''  y'"'  'SO,  I  heard  El.ler  John 
Elhs  sing    The  U'hite  Pilgrim's  Grave  '  ?     The  White  Pilgrim 
too   I_  have  heard  preach.     I  remember  his  tall  form  as,  at  m^ 

on  hL\  ^^''      ,  r""l5'^  ^'''  ^'^'"^  ''°^^^'  ^^-i'h  his  white  hat 

before  h^  il^  '"'""'  '1"°^'  °"  ^'"  ^''^''  ""'^  'hree  weeks 

Detore  he  was  a  white  corpse  ! 

he     Bi^;l''  ^he  immortal  'Pilgrim's  Progress,'  only  tvvo'boolfs, 
n    x^M     ^;     ^""^     ^^^     'Gospel    Luminary— conducted     bv 

in  our    Christian  Heaven,'— the  books,  I  mean. 

«ut  let   me  not  ^become  a  fool  in  gloryine,'    and    vet 
might   I  not  say  ^  ye  have  compelled  me'?     Fo?  that  I   who 
th"  ?on'ofTpl^    •'  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews '-^  a  PhariLe! 
thL  fifteen   vr^'^'^i    ^'^^  ^"^"  ^"^"  ^^^^^^  '  Elder  '  Craig 
just   been  rounded  out  into  '  the  first  qhristian  D    D   '—to 

anTcTme^3"'n"  P''   "P.^"^  ^^^^^^°"  "^y  ^^^hodoxy 
ana  call  me  *  nominally  '  a  member  ! 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDEEATION       223 

''Reared  thus  in  familiarity  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
'Christians,'  I  was  yet  in  my  nineteenth  year,  when  I  began 
to  preach  among  them.  Not  long  after,  heartily  approving 
their  professed  principles,  as  I  do  this  day,  1  joined  myself  to 
them,  on  the  30th  day  of  May,  1844. 

"Thus,  I  continue  in  the  fellowship  of  the  'Christians' 
unto  this  day ;  because  their  principles  teach  me  to  love  the 
General  Church  of  Christ,  and  leave  me  free  to  extend  equal 
affection  and  fellowship  to  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity." 

Whatever  Dr.  Craig  approached  he  left  illuminated 
and  clarified  aud  so  iii  this  iustance,  all  fair-minded  men 
could  but  see  the  real  truth,  condemn  the  error,  and 
remember  gratefully  the  one  who  to  his  own  distaste,  but 
because  he  felt  the  obligation  of  service  upon  him,  had 
given  the  book  its  right  status  before  the  world. 

One  cannot  forbear  this  bit  of  correspondence  as  illus- 
trative of  the  universal  affection  which  he  inspired.  It 
is  a  letter  written  from  Antioch  by  Mrs.  Mann  to  Dr. 
Craig^s  mother.  He  was  just  going  back  to  visit  her 
after  his  initial  work  at  Antioch  : 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Craig  : 

"  Allow  me  to  introduce  to  you  my  friend,  Mr.  Austin 
Craig.  It  IS  impossible  to  tell  you  how  sorry  we  are  to  part 
with  him,  but  you  can  doubtless  only  too  keenly  imagine  our 
regret.  1  assure  you  I  enjoy  the  thought  of  your  happiness 
in  seeing  him  very  highly  indeed,  for  I  know  what  a  good 
son  he  is.  We  hope  most  sincerely  that  the  call  he  has  re- 
ceived from  the  little  society  here  will  bring  him  back  to  us 
at  no  distant  period.  Every  one  concurs  in  the  feeling  that 
no  other  but  himself  will  ever  unite  the  contending  elements 
ot  this  village  community  in  which  the  college  is  located.  All 
these  contending  elements  are  united  upon  one  point— and 
that  is  Mr.  Craig. 

'*  He  has  won  his  way  into  all  hearts  and  identified  him- 
selt  with  all  the  interests  of  the  place.  He  has  moved  around 
amongst  all  classes,  young  and  old,  and  every  one  blesses  his 


224    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

footsteps.  When  he  preaches  to  us,  we  do  not  think  to 
oursdves.-'  I  hat  is  for  our  neighbours '-' How  nicely  th^ 
app.es  to  our  enemy/^but  'How  it  apphes  to  me.'  My 
husbaiHl  feels  truly  bereaved  at  the  parting,  and  can  onlv 
reconcile  hnnself  to  it  by  the  hope  that  he  will  return  From 
the  earliest  period  when  he  concluded  to  come  to  Yellow 
Sprmgs  he  always  said,  '  Mr.  Craig  must  go  too.'  It  was  I 
part  of  his  conception  of  Antioch  College. 

"I  remember  your  short  visit  with  pleasure,  and  hope  to 
have  many  repetitions  of  it.  I  also  hope  to  return  all  your 
visits,  past  and  future,  when  I  go  East  next  summer. 

*'  Yours  with  much  regard, 

*'Mary  Mann." 

On  the  death  of  Mr.  Mann  the  affairs  of  the  collef^e 
were  in  deplorable  shape  and  the  loss  of  the  leader  seenuMl 
a  heavier  shock  than  the  institntion  eonld  bear      And 
yet  even  though  Antioeli  were  Ix'set  with  many  ills,  even 
though  it  had  mortal  enemies  among  those  who  should 
have  been   its  staunehest   friends,    it    was  not  to  die 
Reverend  Thomas  Hill,  a  leader  in  the  ranks  of  the  Uni* 
tarian  denomination,  was  called  to  the  presidency      The 
college  hail  been  given  marked  aid  and  support  by  Dr 
Hill  s  denomination.     In  poi„t  of  fact,  the  board  of  trus- 
tees contained  eight  Unitarians. 

When  it  was  seen  that  the  college  must  fall  without 
outsKle  aid,  various  plans  were  tried  as  the  result  of  Dr 
Craig  s  earnest  appeal  to  the  Christian  denomination,' 
bu  they  had  all  come  to  naught.  The  college  failed 
and  assigned  all  its  property  for  the  benefit  of  its  cred'. 
itors:  a  new  organization  was  effected  with  a  board  of 
^VT'-^  twelve  Christian  members,  and,  as  noted, 
eight   Unitarian.      The  new  organization   was  entirely 

In^tl"""^/  ''""""''^^  ^''''''  '^''  ^^^  one  but  under  obli 
gration      to  perpetuate  its  general  educational  policy  and 

be  managed  and  conducted  upon  its  liberal  principles  - 

It  was  a  union  of  the  two  denominations,  witli  eal  one, 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       225 

— through  its  representatives  upon  the  board  of  trustees, — 
held  in  check  by  the  other.  It  was  expressly  forbidden 
that  religious  or  theological  opinion  of  any  kind  should 
ever  be  set  up  to  exclude  any  person  from  the  benefits 
of  Antioch  College.  It  was  provided  that  the  president 
of  the  college  must  be  elected  from  the  board  of  trustees 
so  that  the  president  must  be  either  of  the  Christian  or 
the  Unitarian  faith.  Every  precaution  was  taken  to 
place  the  institution  upon  a  sound  financial  basis. 

Dr.  Hill  did  not  find  his  incumbency  a  bed  of  roses. 
He  found  that  he,  too,  must  face  the  enemies  of  Antioch. 
In  a  letter  written  to  Dr.  Craig  he  spoke  as  follows  : 

**  Yellow  Springs,  July  26 y  1862. 
**  My  dear  Brother  Craig  : 

**  And  I  should  very  much  like  to  see  you  and  Bloom- 
ing Grove.  But  when  1  shall  go  East  I  am  sure  I  do  not 
know. 

'*  I  commend  our  poor  bantling  Antioch  to  your  care. 
Between  the  call  upon  young  men  to  the  army,  and  the 
stringency  of  the  times  produced  by  this  awful  rebellion  of 
Southern  Barbarism  against  Northern  Civilization  and  the 
apathy  of  Eastern  men  of  wealth  to  Western  claims  and  oppor- 
tunities and  the  prejudices  of  the  Gospel  Herald  against  my 
so-called  Unitarianism,  I  have  been  compelled  to  desert  my 
post, — and  I  would  that  it  had  been  less  of  an  empty  honour 
to  you,  this  unanimous  election  of  you  to  succeed  me  without 
salary  and  with  leave  of  absence  for  a  year. 

*'  It  appears  to  me  that  nothing  can  be  done  here  of  conse- 
quence while  the  war  lasts.  After  that  one  of  two  things 
must  be  done  :  Either  graduate  the  expenses  to  the  income 
and  conduct  the  affairs  economically  (almost  impossible  with 
such  huge  buildings),  or  else  raise  a  generous,  bona  fide  en- 
dowment. I  cannot  approve  of  the  makeshift  expedients  of 
the  past  ten  years. 

*'  I  hope  we  shall  at  least  meet  next  June  at  Antioch  Hall. 
Remember,  you  must  come  then,  or  send  fifty  dollars,  or  else 
resign  your  place  ! 

Ever  truly  yours, 

«'Thos.  Hill." 


(< 


4 


!il:i' 


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226    LIFE  AND  LETTEliS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

It  will  be  uuted  by  the  above  that  Dr.  Craig  had  been 
uiiauijiiously  elected  president  of  Antioch.  lie  recog- 
nized the  impoitaiice  of  the  act  and  the  possibilities  of 
Antioch  even  under  all  the  lieavy  burdens  that  had  rested 
ui>()n  the  college,  but  he  was  slow  to  accept  the  position. 
The  leading  men  in  the  Unitarian  denomination  had  long 
recognized  the  splendid  qualities  of  Dr.  Craig.  No  doubt 
they  could  have  wished  him  an  out  and  out  member  of 
their  fold,  yet  they  were  keen  to  recognize  his  allegiance 
to  his  own  denomination  and  respect  it.  But  there  was 
something  in  his  splendid  catholicity  that  bound  them 
closely  to  him. 

An  early  letter  from  Dr.  11.  W.  Bellows,  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Unitarian  denomination,  illustrates  the 
regard  in  which  Dr.  Craig  was  held.  It  was  written  at 
the  time  when  Mr.  Maim  was  so  earnestly  trying  to  get 
Dr.  Craig  to  go  to  Antioch. 

''  IVaipole,  N.  H.,  August  2j,  1855. 
"  Mv  DEAR  Craig  : 

♦'  Your    handwriting    is  always   grateful   to   my   eyes, 
as    your   thoughts   and    affections  are  refreshing  to  my  soul. 
I   grieve   to   think    that  you    require  any  change  of  i)lace  to 
make   you   well ;    but  if  you  must  change,  I  am  resigned  to  a 
removal  which   carries  you  to  the  scene  of  so  much  moral  in- 
fluence as    Yellow  Springs.     Your   modesty   and    reserve  do 
not  permit  you  to  tell  me  anything  about  your  plans  ;  so  that 
I  do  not  know  whether  you  go  double  on  this  journey  or  not ; 
nor   whether  you   have  abandoned    your  charge  at  Blooming 
Grove  finally,  and  taken  a  permanent  post  at  Yellow  Springs? 
Pray,    inform   me  how  it  is  !     1  think  we  have  a  right  to  know 
whether    you    are   soon    to   be   Benedict,    the   married   man; 
who,  when  'he  swore  he  would  die  a  bachelor,'  'did  not  think 
he  should  live  to  be  married '—(See  *  As  You  Like  It ').     I 
really  hope  you  are  about  to  consummate  this  happy  measure, 
and  if  it  be  so,   present   you  in  advance  (it  may  be  on  the 
very  eve  !)  the  congratulations  of  our  experienced  hearts. 

"  In  regard  to  your  health,  my  dear  Craig,  I  confess  I  do 
not  expect  to  see  you  ever  a  very  stalwart  man.     Your  brain 


H 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       227 

and  heart  are  too  full  of  thought  and  feeling,  to  have  much 
time  for  the  vulgar  oftices  of  digestion  and  blood-manufacture. 
It  is  perhaps  impossible  that  you  should  be  Austin  Craig,  and 
a  well  man.  Had  some  stupid  John  Smith  dwelt  in  your 
clay,  he  would  have  found  it  plastic  enough  to  the  beef  and 
pudding  he  crammed  into  it,  and  by  this  time  your  tall 
skeleton  would  have  been  clothed  with  muscle  and  fat.  But 
1  could  as  soon  undertake  to  fat  up  a  Damascus  small-sword, 
or  a  streakof  June  lightning,  as  you,  conscientious  devotee, 
always  intent  on  finding  the  truth,  and  urging  it  on  other 
people  !  I  do  hope  something  from  the  social  elements  you 
will  meet  at  Antioch  !  Pray  try  and  be  a  little  indifferent 
about  the  world's  progress  and  your  own  salvation  for  a  year 
or  two  !     Is  not  this  pious  counsel  ? 

"  We  intend  to  procure  our  daguerres  when  we  return  to 
New  York  and  forward  them  to  you  at  Yellow  Springs  by 
Mr.  Dean,  or  other  opportunity.  Excuse  our  neglect  to  this 
time,  but  it  is  so  difficult  to  attach  much  importance  to  one's 
own  image  !  Will  you  not  leave  me  yours?  I  shall  value  it 
highly.     Tit  for  tat  is  good  morals. 

*'  Affectionately  yours, 

"  H.  W.  Bellows.** 

In  a  letter  written  to  Dr.  Craig  June  21,  1858,  from 
New  York,  Dr.  Bellows  makes  note  of  his  own  financial 
relations  to  Antioch  saying  that  he  had  not  yet  succeeded 
in  saving  one-half  the  amount  subscribed  by  him,  $1,000, 
and  that  he  did  not  expect  to  bring  his  contribution  up 
beyond  $500,  ^^  which,"  he  wrote,  '^I  presume  will  be 
nearer  the  sum  against  my  name  than  any  other  subscriber 
comes."  *^My  personal  sacrifices,"  he  continued,  ''for 
Antioch  College  are  already  far  beyond  my  means.  My 
connection  with  the  institution  will,  I  fear,  cost  me  the 
large  part  of  $5,000  before  all  is  over.  I  still  hope  some- 
thing may  be  done  to  avert  ruin,  but  the  hand  of  Provi- 
dence must  show  itself  soon   if  Antioch  is  to  remain 

in  our  hands." 
Not  long  afterwards  Dr.  Bellows  again  wrote  Dr.  Craig 

this  characteristic  letter  : 


I 


1 1 


\   \ 


♦ii 


I  .M  >i  *i 


I 


228    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"  New  Ybrk,  May  y/,  f^S9- 
'*  My  DEAR  Craig  : 

"It  is  always  good  for  my  eyes  to  see  your  handwriting  ! 
The  round  loops  of  your  careful  chirography  give  me  glimpses 
into  the  land  of  Beulah,  the  region  of  peace  and  joy. 

"  I  wish  we  could  see  each  other  oftener,  and  face  to  face, 
although  there  are  some  friendships  that  are  independent  of 
these  opportunities  of  renewal,  as  there  are  some  metals  that 
do  not  rust.  We  take  some  of  our  friends,  as  we  do  our  wives, 
'for  better,  for  worse,  for  richer,  for  poorer,'  without  adding 
until  '  death  us  do  part  '  ;  because  we  know  that  Death  will 
only  bring  closer  together  those  who  love  each  other  in  the 
Lord.  I  hope  our  friendship  has  the  seal  of  Christ  attached  to 
it,  and  is  a  bond  that  distance  cannot  weaken,  nor  absence 
eiface. 

"  I  accept  your  congratulations  about  Antioch.  God  alone 
knows  how  much  anxiety,  thought,  labour  that  college  has 
cost  me  !  If  it  now  subserves  the  sacred  interests  to  which  it 
is  pledged,  I  shall  be  a  thousand  times  rewarded.  There  are 
still  local  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  Mr.  Palmer  has  not 
been  a  willing  sacrifice,  and  he  does  not  freely  resign  his  hope 
to  recover  something  from  the  various  local  endorsers  on  the 
paper  of  the  old  institution.  I  wish  he  could  be  made  to  see 
how  he  would  serve  his  own  character  and  honour,  by  doing 
cleanly  and  wholly,  this  act  of  mercy  and  charity.  If  you 
have  any  influence  with  him  in  this  direction,  please  use  it. 

'*  When  you  next  come  to  New  York,  you  shall  have  the  run 
of  my  books  and  take  what  you  like.  I  believe  I  have 
Palfray— if  not  lent  and  lost,  but  I  cannot  to-day  lay  hands  on 
it.  Bunsen's  'Egypt  '  I  have  not.  Anything  I  have,  you  can 
borrow,  if  you  will  come  and  look  for  yourself  among  my  most 
miscellaneous  shelves. 

"  Give  my  kindest  regards  to  your  wife.  Mrs.  Bellows  is  at 
Eagleswood  or  she  would  join  me.  I  wish  you  could  go  on  to 
our  anniversary  exercises  in  Boston  next  week  and  see  what  we 
are  all  about.  It  would  do  you  good.  You  would  have  to 
leave  early  Monday  and  take  the  boat  that  night— for  Tuesday 
is  the  high  day.  Do  go  I  I  have  read  your  defense  of  Antioch. 
It  IS  triumphant.  Also  your  articles  in  Gospel  Herald.  What 
an  improved  paper  !     I  rejoice.     God  he  with  you. 

**  Always  affectionately  yours, 

*'H.  W.  Bellows." 


m^ 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       229 

lu  1862,  wearied  by  the  failures  to  provide  funds  and 
the  generally  unsatisfactory  condition  of  affairs,  Dr.  Hill 
resigned,  and  returned  to  Boston.  The  power  and  effec- 
tiveness of  the  man  were  later  even  more  fully  shown  in 
his  presidency  of  Harvard,  running  from  1862  to  1868. 

Though  Dr.  Craig  had  been  chosen  president,  as  noted, 
he  could  with  great  difdculty  bring  himself  to  believe 
that  he  should  become  the  active  head  of  the  institution. 
The  situation,  and  somewhat  his  state  of  mind,  is  in- 
dicated in  the  following  letter,  written  to  Dr.  Bellows  m 
August,  1862  : 

«'  Ever  since  I  knew  you,  I  have  loved  and  trusted  you.     I 
can  speak  frankly  to  you  because  I  have  no  fear  that  you  will 
understand   me  in  any  narrow  or  ungenerous  way.     I  wish 
vou   and  those  friends  of  Antioch  College  who  came  to  its  aid 
under  your  leadership,  to  think  of  me  as  cherishing  no  aim 
with  respect  to  Antioch  which  our  common  Lord  could  not  ap- 
prove     I  am  undecided  whether  to  accept  the  presidency  or 
lo  decline  it.     If  my  '  Christian  '  brethren  will  heartily  unite 
to  love  and  help  the  college,  and  will  give  proof  thereof  by 
making  all  these  bona  fide,  fully-paid  scholarship-bonds  good 
again  :  and  by  making  a  reasonable  provision  for  the  future  of 
the  college,  I  would  feel  greatly  inclined  to  enter  their  service 
if  that  '  unanimous  will  and  vote  of  the  Board  '  of  which  you 
wrote  me,  should  appear  to  be  also  the  nearly  unanimous  will 
of  the  '  Christian '  brotherhood.  ^      .  .         •  ^ 

"I  fully  agree  with  you  in  the  expression  of  opinion  with 
which  your  letter  closes.  You  may  not  recall  it  all,  I  transcribe 
it  here  just  as  I  read  it  in  your  letter : 

"  '  It  seems  to  me  that  if  you  should  devote  yourself  to  rally- 
ing the  Christian  connexion  about  Antioch,— appealing  to  their 
pride  and  their  duty,— you  might  raise  an  endowment ;  and 
then,  calling  about  you  such  professors  as  you  could  trust,  you 
might  keep  up  the  standard  of  education  already  raised  there  and 
make  the  college  a  great  blessing  to  your  body  and  to  the  West. 
"You  have  said  just  what  ought  to  be  done.  Perhaps  1 
would  make  one  exception  (it  seems  almost  hypercritical  to 
make  it)-I  would  appeal  to  the  ^  duty  of  my  brethren  first 
and  their  *  pride  '  afterwards,  if  at  all. 


^    % 


,*-/  "• 


li 


-(  , 


(!) 


230    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"  Heretofore    you    and    your   associates    have   contributed 
generouiily  for   Antioch,  and  now  we  '  Christians  '  ought  to 
bear  our  burdens.     If  we  succeed,  I  hope  a  large  share  of  the 
joy  may  be  yours.     Brother  Bellows,  you  have  done  too  much 
for  Antioch  heretofore,  to  permit  you  to  become  indifferent  to 
her  welfare.     I  believe  that  your  *  best  wishes  and   heartiest 
prayers  will  be  with  us  in  such  an  undertaking '  as  you  have 
commended  to  me.     As  I  think  of  your  generous  aid  to  Antioch 
in  former  days,  I  grow  bolder  to  speak  what  is  in  my  heart 
Ihe  Lord  remembers  and  rewards  all  faithful  deeds  :     Be  that 
your  comfort !     But  you  and  your  friends  have  done  too  much 
for  Antioch,  no^  to  do  more.     I  speak  my  own  thought,  to  be 
sure,  but  I  want   you,  and  they,  to  be  ready  a  year  hence  to 
endow,    say,   a  Channing  Professor  of  Rhetoric  for  Antioch 
College  aiid   to  get  your  friend  (mine,  too,  I  hope  he  is),  the 
Kev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  of  Albany,  to  accept  it," 

It  wa^  at  Schuyler^s  Lake,  New  York,  where  lie  had 
gone  on  a  vacation  from  his  pastoral  charge  in  Blooming 
Grove,  Dr.  Craig  received  in  July,  1862,  the  formal  an- 
nouncement of  his  election  to  the  presidency  of  Antioch. 
In  a  copy  of  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  board  of 
trustees  made  in  Dr.  Craig's  own  handwriting,  acknowl- 
edging the  receipt  of  the  formal  announcement,  there  is  a 
significant  illustration  of  his  determination  not  to  say 
anything  which  could  be  construed  as  harsh.  He  had 
first  written  and  then  crossed  out  by  two  bold  strokes  the 
following,  his  own  unquestioned  belief:  it  has  a  special 
significance  to-day  : 

"Consecrated  money  is  a  powerful  instrumentality  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  As  for  dirty  money.  '  the  price  of  blood,' 
or  even  *  the  price  of  a  dog'^J  would  reject  that  from  the 

t^Z\  ""^  1"'^^'^  ^°""^*^^  ^^^"  ^^  ''  ^^«"Jd  have  been  re- 
jected  from  the  treasury  of  the  Jewish  temple." 

In  concluding  his  letter  which  dealt  somewhat  with 

the  plans  for  the  financial  restoration  of  the  coUege,  he 
said:  ^  ' 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       231 

"It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  a  question  of  TF/V/only, 
not  of  Ability.  Now  that  Antioch  is  down,  1  earnestly  hope 
that  we  may  go  down, — down  with  her  until  we  find  the  very 
granite  of  God's  righteousness,  and,  laying  the  foundations  of 
Antioch' s  future  upon  that,  humbly  and  faithfully  build  in 
Christ's  name  that  which  can  never  be  shaken." 


Letters  to  different  people  written  at  this  time  by 
Dr.  Craig  show  not  only  the  difficulty  he  found  in  reach- 
ing a  decision  but  also  his  shrewd  and  keen  grasp  of  the 
situation.  Had  he  not  been  a  religious  teacher  and  an 
educator,  he  could  have  been  a  diplomatist  in  the  nobler 
sense  ;  a  statesman.  In  a  letter  to  I.  C.  Gofif  in  the  same 
month  in  which  he  received  notice  of  his  election  he 
wrote  : 


"  I  incline  to  say  that  I  cannot  listen  to  the  call  of  the 
trustees  of  Antioch  College,  unless  (i)  the  Christians  of  the 
West, — of  Ohio,  especially,  should  generally  and  heartily  sanc- 
tion that  call;  and  not  even  then,  unless  (2)  adequate  means 
should  be  secured  for  fulfilling  the  contracts  originally  made  in 
the  name  of  *  Antioch  College,'  with  those  who  bought — and 
loho  paid  in  full  for  scholarships. 

*'  I  could  have  hoped  that  the  blessing  of  God  would  rest  on 
Antioch  College, — and  1  could  work  heartily  in  her  service  if 
the  brethren  who  once  loved  her,  would  unite  to  remove  from 
her  the  dishonour  and  wrong  of  those  repudiated  scholarships. 
Putting  out  of  view  all  personal  relations  that  I  might  sustain 
to  the  college,  I  do  wish  that  the  brotherhood  would  be  stirred 
up  now  to  right  those  wrongs  of  the  past,  even  if  they  should 
determine  immediately  to  abandon  Antioch  forever.  But,  such 
an  act  of  repentance  and  justice  would  reunite  a  thousand 
broken  bonds  of  love,  and  would  bring  hundreds  of  pupils  to 
Antioch  from  our  own  midst — so  I  believe." 


,C 


His  scrupulous  adherence  to  fairness  is  shown  in  the 
following  extract  from  a  letter  written  while  at  Schuyler^s 
Lake  to  Dr.  Hill. 


\   I 


m 


\ 


4 


232    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CEAIG 

**I  greatly  desire  to  know,"  Dr.  Craig  writes,  **  whether,  in 
your  judgment,  the  transactions  connected  with  the  reception 
of  your  resignation  (as  president  of  Antioch)  and  with  my  elec- 
tion were  fair  and  honourable.  Was  there  anything  like  con- 
spiracy or  intrigue  ?  Do  the  Unitarians  feel  that  any  unfair 
advantage  was  taken  of  them,  by  the  *  Christians  '  ?  Have 
the  Unitarians  lost  their  interest  in  the  college,  as  it  now 
stands  ?  Could  their  future  cooperation  with  the  *  Christians  ' 
in  sustaining  the  institution  be  expected  if  the  administration 
of  its  affairs  should  be  faithful  and  honourable  ?  Or,  if  not, 
why  not  ? 

♦*I  will  not  ask  you  to  give  me  answers  in  detail  to  these 
questions.  My  object  is  rather  to  get  your  general  view  of  the 
transaction  on  which  the  college  passed,  apparently^  from  the 
immediate  direction  and  care  of  the  Unitarians,  into  the  hands 
of  the  'Christians.'  I  would  esteem  it  a  favour  to  have  you 
write  me  such  an  account  of  these  matters  as  you  might  wish 
to  get  from  me,  were  I  in  your  place,  and  you  in  mine.  Your 
answer  shall  be  treated  confidentially  if  you  so  desire  it. 

"  If  it  shall  appear  that  all  was  right  as  concerned  your 
resignation  and  my  election  ;  if,  further,  I  should  be  *  effectually 
called  '  to  the  post  which,  as  I  am  informed,  the  trustees  of  the 
college  have  unanimously  voted  to  offer  me,  it  would  be  my 
hearty  wish  that  the  administration  of  the  college  might  be 
worthy  of  confidence  and  love  from  the  Unitarian  brethren. 
Although  I  am  not  a  Unitarian  in  name,  perhaps  not  even  in 
theology,  still,  could  we  not  work  together  for  *  Christ  and  the 
Church '  ?  We  could,  I  am  sure,  if  we  would  put  from  us 
every  aim  which  our  unsectarian  Lord  Jesus  would  judge  un- 
worthy of  His  best  disciple." 


To  another  friend  he  wrote  a  month  after  receiving  the 
call,  while  still  in  the  midst  of  doubts  and  misgivings  as 
to  what  part  his  own  denomination  would  take  in  the  re- 
generation of  the  college : 


"  Before  I  could  accept  this  post  whole-heartedly  I  must  see 
a  general  revival  of  interest  in  the  college,  among  its  original 
friends.  This  interest  should  take  practical  form  in  (i)  mak- 
ing right  the  past,  by  henceforth  doing  what  the  scholarship- 


# 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       233 

bonds  pledged  the  faith  of  Antioch  College  to  perform ;  (2)  in 
making  sure  the  future,  by  endowment,  or  otherwise. 

"These  things  done, — or  reasonably  sure  to  be  done, — and  the 
action  of  the  trustees  cordially  sanctioned  by  my  *  Christian ' 
brethren,  I  might  see  a  door  of  duty  opening  for  meat  Antioch 
College." 

In  showing  how  the  college  could  be  put  on  its  feet  by 
the  denomination  he  said,  referring  to  the  scholarship- 
bonds  which  should  be  made  good  : 

"That  would    be  right,— would  be  righteousness.     And  I 

trust  it  would  go  far  towards  making  God  favourable  to  the 

college,   and    towards    recovering  the  alienated   affections  of 
many  of  our  brethren." 

The  breadth  of  the  man  and  his  interest  in  the  institu- 
tion from  the  standpoint  of  scholarship  are  again  and 
again  shown  in  the  mass  of  correspondence  regarding  the 
college.  These  were  among  the  suggestions  which  he 
made  writing  to  a  friend  in  August,  1862  : 

**  That  there  be  added  to  the  corps  of  instructors  of 
Antioch  College  a  professor  of  the  Biblical  Languages  and 
Literature,  to  give  lessons,  to  such  as  choose  to  take 
them,  in  the  Hebrew  language  and  in  New  Testament 
Greek :  with  such  accompanying  instruction  in  Biblical 
Antiquities,  Hebrew  Poetry,  etc.,  as  shall  a<!knowledge 
the  Bible  to  be  (at  least)  one  of  the  world's  great  classics  ; 
and  provide  for  its  study,  just  as  provision  is  made  for 
the  critical  study  of  Homer  and  Virgil.  If  it  would  turn 
Antioch  into  a  f/i^ological  school,  merely  to  study  the 
Bible  as  a  classic  in  its  original,  is  it  not  making  Antioch 
a  m^^Aological  school  to  study  Homer  in  the  same  way  1 " 

**What  I  propose,"  Dr.  Craig  interjects  in  discussing  or 
elaborating  the  point,  **is,  not  to  establish  a  professorship  of 
Theology,  but  to  furnish  opportunity  for  those  students  who 


1* 


I 


n 


t 


I'i 


234    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

wish  to  read  in  the  originals  the  chief  classics  of  the  world,  to 
do  so:  giving  them  exactly  the  same  kuul  of  helps  and  aids  in 
studying  the  hallowed  muse  of  Isaiah  that  the  ordinary  pro- 
fessor of  Greek  gives  for  studying  '  the  blind  old  bard  of 
Scio's  rocky  isle,' 

''  riiis  is  only  making  the  Bible  one  of  our  school-books. 
Now,  if  the  professor  of  Greek  should  spend  his  time  with  the 
Honier-chiss  in  quoting  Homeric  passages  and  founding 
reasonings  thereon,  to  establish  the  minds  of  his  pupils  in  the 
behef  that  Honier  teaches  the  doctrine  of  the  Calvinistic 
Theology,  or  of  Unitarianism,  or  the  like,  I  should  say  that  he 
had  better  bestow  his  lal)Our  in  aiding  his  pupils  to  master  the 
language  in  which  Homer's  thoughts  are  preserved,  to  point 
them  to  such  historic  sources  of  illustration  as  will  the  better 
enable  them  to  comprehend  the  Homeric  writings  in  their  rela- 
tion to  the  age  which  they  express;  and  then  leave  the  pupils 
to  form  their  own  opinion  of  Homer's  view  of  this  or  that  sub- 
ject, from  their  own  studies  and  meditations. 

**  Surely,  it  is  not  technically  teaching  theology  to  give 
scientific  instructions  in  the  original  languages  of  the  Scriptures, 
accompanied  with  such  illustrations  from  Antiquities,  Biblical 
Geography,  etc.,  as  may  enable  the  pupil  to  study  intelligently 
the  best  product  of  Mmd— the  noblest  classic  in  the  world  ?  " 

His  other  suggestion  follows  : 

The  feasibility  of  ealliiig  ui)on  the  ministers  of  the 
Christian  denomination  to  endow  such  a  jirofessorsbip. 

It  was  eharaeteristie  of  the  man  never  to  lose  sight  of  a 
ehance  to  interest  others  in  tlie  high  and  noble  affairs  to 
which  he  gave  his  life.  He  knew  that  if  the  ministers  of 
the  denomination  contributed  to  the  maintenance  of  such 
a  professorship  out  of  their  own  pockets  they  would  be- 
come thereby  moi-e  vitally  interested  in  it. 

The  year  following  the  receipt  of  the  call  to  Antioch, 
in  April,  ISG;^,  Dr.  Craig,  unremitting  in  his  endeavour 
to  help  the  college  to  regain  its  feet,  issued  an  appeal, 
following  a  request  of  the  Quadrennial  Convention  sup- 
plementary to  the  former  conference  appeal  and 
published   in    the    Herald  of   Gospel   Liberty.     He  now 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       235 

proposed  a  plan  for  saving  Antioch  by  tuition  and  en- 
dowment, clearly  setting  forth  how  this  could  be  done 
by  the  Christian  denomination  without  cramping  or 
pinching  anybody.  He  appealed  with  all  earnestness  to 
his  people,  though  he  must  have  felt  in  his  heart  it 
would  be  in  vain.  As  he  pointed  to  the  possible  closing 
of  the  college,  he  said  : 

"What  a  place  of  Disappointments,  Griefs,  Tears,  that 
Antioch  has  been  to  many  1  Our  whole  people  might  '  call  the 
name  of  that  place  Bochim  /  '  What  a  schooling  we  have  had 
there  '  How  proud  and  foolish  we  were  at  first ;  build mg  our 
•  Great  Antioch  '  with  brick  for  stone,  and  self-conceit  for 
mortar  !  How  kind  God  was  to  us,  causing  us  at  the  first  to 
stumble  upon  the  very  principles  of  Christ's  kingdom,  m  our 
unskilled  notions  of  what  a  college  should  be ;  and,  sending  us 
for  banner-bearer,  Horace  Mann  !  How  he  made  us  a  I  hope 
great  things  for  Antioch  !  How  he  filled  those  youths  and 
maidens  with  his  own  enthusiasm  for  Truth  and  Right,— for 
Man  and  God  !  Those  halls,  those  grounds,  those  fellowships, 
those  tones  of  music,  those  prayers,— it  does  seem  to  many  that 
something  bright  from  heaven  came  very  near  to  earth,  there  at 
Antioch  1  Ah  !  what  perfume  of  old  memories  fills  those  halls 
and  that  chapel,  like  incense  of  the  sanctuary.     Priceless  pos- 

session  ! 

'<The  one  and  only   work  of  our   whole    people  hitherto, 
was— is— '  Antioch    College.'      Not     more   our   geographical 
centre,  than   the  pivot  of  our   Unity.     Let  go  that,  and  we 
disintegrate  !     1  mused  so  once,  while  meditating  that  noble 
structure  which  so  many  loved.     The  names  of  the  brethren 
who  built,   began  to  fade  out ;  for  it  was  eventide,  and  long 
and  dark  were  the  shadows  which  fell    from  the   tow^ers.     I 
thought  we  grew  shadowy  too  !     Was  it  the  falling  dew  in 
the  air,— or,   on  my  eyelids,  that  made  me  so  strangely  mis- 
read that  great   name,    Antioch,    up   there?      How  could   it 
so  shape  itself  into    Ichabod  !     And   was   my  ear,  too,  pos- 
sessed ?     Never  before  did  I  hear  that  bell  clang  out  '  Tekel ! 
'Tekel!  !'      'Tekel!  !  !' 

Two  years  passed  by,  after  Dr.  Craig  finally  accepted 


\vmfi 


r 


f|i| 


ii'i 


236    LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

the  presidency  of  the  college,  before  any  definite  steps 
could  be  taken  to  put  the  institution  upon  its  feet.  Dur- 
ing this  time,  the  closing  years  of  the  war  of  the  re- 
beilion,  college  activities  were  suspended. 

Writing  in  January,  1804,  to  the  Rev.  Eli  Fay,  of 
Woburn,  Massachusetts,  a  leading  Unitarian  minister 
and  a  member  of  the  Antioch  Board  of  Trustees,  Dr. 
Craig  says  : 

'*  For  some  time  past  the  conviction  has  forced  itself  upon 
me  that  our  '  Christian '  brethren  will  do  nothing  effectual 
for  Antioch.  I  no  longer  think  of  myself  as,  even  in  name 
president  of  the  college.  I  have  much  reason  to  feel  sorry 
that  I  have  allowed  myself  so  long  to  be  possessed  by  the 
unsettled,  half-and-half  ftcling  of  relationship  to  Antioch 
which  I  now  see  has  done  no  good  to  the  college,  while  it 
has  hindered  my  work  and  usefulness  here.  (Blooming 
Grove  )  1  began  the  New  Year  with  the  feeling  that  I  ought 
to  tend  my  flock  better  and  let  nominal  presidencies  cease  to 
hinder  my  proper  work.  1  have  said  this  to  no  one  but  you 
(besides  my  wife).  Let  it  remain  private  for  a  while  I  say 
It  to  you  that  you  may  no  longer  think  of  me  as  president 
prospective. ' ' 


Making  note  of  an  anticipated  consultation  between 
them  on  Antioch,  Dr.  Craig  gives  these  directions  for 
communication  which  suggest  the  status  of  the  tele- 
graph even  in  the  state  of  New  York,  but  forty  years 
ago: 

'*  In  that  case  let  me  have  a  word  from  you  by  telegraph  • 
unless  you  are  reasonably  sure  that  your  letter  could  reach 
me  by  Tuesday  next.     (19th.)     (Dr.  Craig's  letter  was  dated 

wV  \^'tu^''''xt'"?.  ^'■°^^'  ^'-  ^^y  b^i"g  as  noted,  in 
Woburn.  The  N  Y.  &  Erie  R.  R.  Company  (Erie  Rail- 
way s  Telegraph)  have  a  telegraph  office  at  Washingtonville, 
near  my  house.  The  despatch  may  come  to  Newburg  from 
Albany :    but  probably  the  better  way  would  be  to  send  it  to 


M 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       237 

N.   Y.   City,  where  it  would  immediately  be  passed  over  to 
the  operator  of  N.  Y.  &  Erie  R.  R.  Telegraph." 

Extracts  from  two  letters  by  Dr.  Craig  to  his  wife 
written  in  January,  1864,  from  Boston,  give  interesting 
side-lights  on  some  of  the  men  with  whom  he  was  work- 
ing for  Antioch. 

"  I  reached  Boston  about  nine-thirty  o'clock,  this  morn- 
ing. Walked  to  the  rooms  of  the  American  Unitarian  Associa- 
tion. Found  there,  Rev.  Dr.  Stebbins,  with  whom  I  had 
some  pleasant  talk.  Mr.  Fay  came  in  an  hour  after  my  ar- 
rival— was  Vfry  glad  to  see  me.  Had  given  me  up.  He  took 
me  first  to  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale's  house.  It  was  he  who  put 
Mr.  Fay  upon  demanding  my  coming  hither.  Hale  is  a 
tall,  slim,  wiry  man,  with  a  big  bushy  head,  and  a  look  of 
capacity  and  goodness.  He  welcomed  us  cordially.  Fay 
says  that  Hale  is  the  greatest  worker  in  Boston.  We  went 
soon  then  to  a  Rev.  Mr.  Tilden's  house  and  took  dinner. 
Tilden  was  a  neighbouring  minister  to  Fay  a  year  or  two. 
We  then  walked  to  Dr.  Gannett's  door,  but  learned  that  he 
was  *out.'  We  may  see  him  at  the  ministers'  meeting  this 
evening.  To-morrow  there  is  some  sort  of  gathering  of 
ministers  here,  and  Fay  thinks  my  coming  is  most  opportune. 

**  Fay  is  out  now  working  away  on  a  man  from  whom  he 
expects  a  'Professorship.'  He  thinks  he  has  two  secured, 
and  he  has  succeeded  in  interesting  the  leading  ministers  here 
very  much,  and  is  hopeful  of  five  professorships. 

"  By  Saturday  night,  he  says,  we  shall  know  Antioch's 
fate.  I  hope  to  be  home  by  Saturday  evening  ;  but  if  I 
see  that  my  stay  here  is  really  worth  while,  I  may  stay 
over  Sunday.  To-morrow  I  hope  I  shall  know ;  and  the  next 
mail  after  that  by  which  this  comes  to  you,  will  bring  you 
another  to  tell  whether  I  can  come  this  week  or  not.  We 
expect  to  see  President  Hill,  Dr.  Gannett,  and  several 
others. 

'*  I  am  called  up  now  to  greet  friends." 


**I  have  been  sitting  here   at   a  desk    in    the    *  Unitarian 
Rooms,'~rear  of  Walker  and  Wise's  bookstore,  245  Washing- 


ill 


238    LIFE  A:XD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CKAIG 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       239 


ton  St.,— an  hour  or  two,  reading,  writing,  waiting.  Mr.  Fay 
runs  out  and  returns.  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale  runs  out,  comes 
in,  and  reports  to  Mr.  Fay.  We  are  awaiting  here  the  ar- 
rival of  Rev.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  whom  we  went  out 
to  Jamaica  Plains  (five  miles  from  Boston)  yesterday  to  visit, 
but  found  absent  from  home.  We  called  on  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,* 
yesterday,  on  Rev.  Mr.  Hale  once,— and  a  place  or  two  I 
forget.  We  went  into  Dr.  Gannett's  church— the  most 
costly  and  beautiful  church  in  Boston.  The  inside  is  Greek 
beauty. 

''  (3  p.  M.)  I  have  just  seen  Rev.  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
who  came  to  these  Rooms.  Mr.  Fay  has  been  talking  with 
him  of  Antioch.  Mr.  Fay  is  confident  that  he  shall  succeed. 
—I  stay  to  help,  if  possible.  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale  is  working  for 
Antioch  this  week,  and  it  will  satisfy  (perhaps  gratify)  him 
and  the  others,  if  I  stay  over  Sunday. 

"Last  evening  we  went  to  the  'Boston  Museum'  to  see 
Tom  Taylor's  'Great  Moral  Drama,'  'The  Ticket  of  Leave 
Man.'  " 

In  passing,  one  may  not  fail  to  suggest  the  intimate 
personal  note  in  some  of  Dr.  Craig's  letters.  AV'ritiug 
in  midsummer,  1864,  from  Blooming  Grove  to  Dr.  Fay, 
he  says : 

"  I  am  sorry  to  learn  from  yours  of  July  30th  that  you  have 
not  been  very  well  since  your  return  from  Yellow  Springs. 
It  does  not  seem  to  me  strange.  For  I  think  you  allow  your- 
self too  little  relaxation,  recreation,  vacation.  Mr.  Orton  is 
another  such  intense,  unrelenting  worker,  who,  much  to  his 
surprise— as  he  is  wise  and  careful  in  all  the  physical  (animal) 
economies  except  rest-taking— was  taken  ill  a  month  ago,  and 
barely  escaped  with  his  life.  He  begins  to  walk  a  little  now  ; 
and  may  be  able  to  work  again,  after  making  up  several 
more  weeks  of  his  arrearages  of  resting-time.  He  had  been 
preaching  for  me  during  several  Sundays  of  my  recent  ab- 
sence;  gave  the  five  school-days  to  his  classes  laboriously, 
as  is  his  wont ;  prepared  his  sermon  on  Saturday  ;  and  rode 
and  returned  a  dozen  miles  to  preach  on  Sundays  :  depriving 
himself  thereby  of  Sabbath— of  rest  time— for  several  weeks 
m  succession.     I  hold  up  his  fate  before  you,  to  deter  you. 


Your  health-guardian  has  been  away  from  you  much  this 
summer;  and  you  have  been  misbehaving  yourself  shockingly : 
as  your  thin  visage  and  loose  waistband  telltale.  Look  out, 
brother  Fay ;  Typhoid  Fever  or  Dysentery  may  spring  upon 
you  (or  me)  suddenly  some  day.  You  had  better  come  right 
away  from  that  Wo— Wo--( what's  the  name  of  the  place  ?) 
Come  right  to  Blooming  Grove,  you  and  Mrs.  Fay,  and  let  us 
fat  you  up.  My  wife  says  so.  This  is  real  country  here. 
We  have  the  best  of  cows'  milk,  and  bread  made  from  fresh - 
ground  wheat  raised  by  my  father  (and  he  prides  himself 
on  his  wheat-fields)  ;  and  butter,  such  as  Orange  County 
can  produce,  and  blackberries  grown  in  our  garden,  and 
pure  grape-wine — if  you  need  it.  Come.  *  Come  just  now  ! ' 
You  know  the  way.     Do  come,  won't  you  ?  " 

While  Dr.  Craig  recognized  and  was  sharply  grieved 
over  the  apathy  of  those  of  his  own  denomination,  and 
while  his  own  generous  nature  could  not  but  respond  to 
the  cordial  and  unaffected  interest  of  the  Unitarian  de- 
nomination, he  yet  must  needs  be  absolutely  fair  to  both. 
He  had  long  placed  great  confidence  in  Dr.  Hill,  already 
referred  to,  and  set  much  store  on  his  judgment.  The 
following  letter  illustrates  Dr.  Craig's  absolute  impartial- 
ity and  his  desire  to  maintain  Antioch  as  a  beacon-light 
of  a  free,  untrammelled  faith  : 

^'Blooming  Grove,  N.  K,  August  22,  1864. 
"  Dear  Brother  Hill  ; 

"  Let  me  trouble  you  with  my  burden.     For  there  is  no 
one  to  whom,  I  suppose,  I  can  more  fitly  speak. 

"  I  would  not  go  to  Antioch  if  it  was  to  be  narrowed  by 
denominational  aims.  I  told  my  '  Christian '  brethren  so. 
Told  them  that  I  could  have  no  heart  to  undertake  the 
presidency  unless  I  might  do  it  in  the  interests  of  the  Christian 
Church,  not  the  '  Christian  '  denomination.  It  rejoiced  me 
to  think  that  they,  the  'Christians,'  were  ready  to  unite 
with  your  friends,  called  'Unitarians,'  to  make  Antioch  free 
from  denominational  aims,  and  devoted  to  Christ  and  Chris- 
tianity.    That  is  what  I  understood  you,  and  our  '  Unitarian ' 


IM 

li 


'\1 


240    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CliAlG 

associates  in  the  board  of  trustees,  to  mean.  My  chief  attrar 
.on  to  the  place  which  has  been  offered  me  at^Antloch  wa; 
the  prospect  that  I  might  be  able  to  help  the  ■  Christians  -  and 
the  '  Unitarians, '-whom  Antioch  now  interests,_to  become 
the  Lord^'^B^.  -c^  t  t,  ^^,^^  .  ^  ^^^^^  ^^^  ■ood°.ork  o 
Umtar-i  iS  hte^rhtirser'^e  r''^  denom.nationaU, 
"  Why  do  I  say  this  ?  Because  1  have  read  in  the  Unitarian 
papers  appeals  m  behalf  of  Antioch  which  appear  to  a  sume 
that  Antioch  is  to  be  made  exclusively  Unitarian.     Take   for 

ll^rri'^'^^r"'  '"  ^^^^^  °f  Institutions  of  Learning)-       ^ 
in^ton  l^,i         ."""f  "'°"''^  "°'  •'^'■'^  '°  ^^"  H^vard  or  Wash- 
frfr  nf    T"r '^  "'''"  °'""'  ^f'"  ^"  'I'ei^  fostering  care,  for 

cX  tSf  fh/;:? ^- ""'  '^^^  -^^ "-"'  ^-'-h 

bre'th^en' n"  "  •"'  *'  ."'"•,'  "^'""^  y""'  '"^^^  °"'  '  Unitarian  > 
make  it  "m  "  '"  "".'^"'^,'''"6  '°  '^'^^  "'oney  for  Antioch-to 
tZt  we  /,!  :  ""'"^^  ^"'^^  '^'■°"'"'  I  ''°I'"i  ^"<"  believed 
IltoJLf  '"f  ^  "'""'  '°  '«"'^f'-'  denominational  aims 

ZliT,'-  ?''  ,'.'',"'  '^^  *^°"'''  ""■'"">'  and  mutually  try  to 
•UnLrh',"     f '^'';;"''""  ?"^^^'  •'"'  "^''h-  'Christia'n.'C 

ren  cLn  foel  ,L71u  ". '°  ^  '".^^  '*'^'  "'^  '  ^''"^''^n  '  breth- 
ren can  feel  that  they  have  rights  there  (are  not  there  bv  the 

grace  of  others),  such  that  they  can  patronize  it.  con.nbme  o 
.ts  endowment  funds,  and  feel  joy  in  its  success. 

TTni,."'     /■'"  ^"'^  "'^'  "°"'-"  °f  ""'*  can  be,  if  the  idea  of  our 

t^a     the"/^;,?'"  ■'  '°  ""f '  "'^  '^°"^S"=  '  'heirs. '     I  under  .o« 
that   the  college  was  to  be  yours  and  ours,  in  the  unity  of  an 

Sr'w'Z'  ''."TT  '°  P-"-"^'heglory  of  ourcll^n 
nn^?;^.;     .         ''  '   ''^'"^''^'  ■'  *^'^'"  you  mean.     But  if  the 

to  make"th?'.'.T  "'"/  ^°"'"'^'"S  '"«""^"'  f^"'"  that-mean 
fair  ,r.      K     ,5  '?^^  denominationally  their  own,    it   is   but 

pwp^Se'^."'""'''  ''"°^"  "^^'  '  "^^^"^  "°  '"'^^e^t  i"  any  such 


fnf  °    ^f  fJ    ^''^  "'"*''  apparently,  the  conviction  was 
forcing  Itself  npon  Dr.  Craig  that  duty  lay  in  the  direc- 

Hnd      T  ^"^  ''""  ^^'^  ^''^^^^  "•■^f"'*.  the  chance 

steadily  widening  opportunity  to  reach  the  world  through 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  CONSIDERATION       241 

the  medium  of  his  pen,— to  such  an  one  it  was  an  act  of 
.supreme  self-denial  to  give  up  all  this  and  ent«r  upon  the 
coiiseless  care  and  grind  of  an  offtcial  position.  But  once 
the  door  of  duty  opened,  be  was  swift  to  enter. 


ii 


1: 


,'?f 


w 


41' 


XIII 

ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 

THE  time  had  now  come  for  dtfiuite  action  and 
Or.  Craig  brought  matters  to  a  focus  by  an  ex- 
haustive   paper    in    answer  to   the  question- 
*^  Antioch  College,— Whose  is  it !  '^ 

Such  persistent  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  enemies  of 
Antioch  in  public  and  private  to  sow  discontent  had  so 
k)ng  prevailed, -and  this,  too,  as  it  appears,  largely  by 
members  of  the  Christian  denomination,  tiiking  particular 
form  at  that  period  in  an  effort  to  prove  Antioch  hetero- 
dox,-that  Dr.  Craig  felt  it  imperative  this  question 
should  be  formally  raised  and  publicly  answered. 

In  3Iay,  18G4,  he  had  a  paper  on  the  subject  in  hand. 
He  wrote  to  the  editor  of  the  Herald  of  Gospel  Liberty 
proposing  the  paper  for  publication.  In  return  the  editor 
asked  Dr.  Craig  if  he  would  not  be  willing  to  suspend  the 
publication  of  the  paper— whicli  had  now  come  to  him— 
until  the  editor  should  see  Dr.  Craig  in  Fall  Kiver, 
Massiichusetts,  and  ^Malk  the  matter  over." 

In  all  Dr.  Craig's  make-up  no  one  ever  found  any  trace 
of  the  trimmer.  He  was  not  open  to  every  wind  that 
blew.  He  was  not  outspoken  where  only  anger  would 
thereby  be  provoked  and  no  good  accomplished,  but, 
ever  wisely  gauging  the  situation,  without  yielding  an 
luch  to  influences  he  did  not  approve  of,  he  spoke  the 
right  word  in  the  right  place,  at  the  right  time.  Should 
the  word  hurt,  he  would  be  pained  more  deeply  than  the 

242 


^  —      nil  nil 


I 

ill 


C^^^v^^    c?<  /^^-^ 


'I  i; 


ANTIOCII  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


243 


If     • 


u 


one  who  suffered  it;  but,  if  it  were  a  just  and  needful 
word,  be  w^ould  nevertheless  speak  it.  He  could  not  do 
anything  in  the  dark,  so  he  wrote  to  the  editor  : 

"If,  after  due  reflection,  you  think  it  best  to  withdraw  the 
article  from  your  readers,  do  so  freely ;  I  shall  at  least  acqui- 
esce cheerfully,  even  if  I  should  at  times  still  think,  that,  on 
the  whole,  and  in  the  long  run,  the  candid  statement  of  a  disa- 
greeable truth  is  better  than  misleading  silence  or  politic  sup- 
pressions. This  may  seem  strong  language,  and  may  possibly 
seeni  unkind  to  say,  but  don't  take  it  as  my  judgment  con- 
cerning your  view  of  the  matter.  I  only  mean  to  put  my  own 
view  before  you  of  what  is  best  for  me  to  say.  I  do  not  wish 
any  concealment  in  the  matter.  I  think  there  has  been  too 
much,  far  too  much.  I  do  not  sympathize  with  the  wish  to 
make  Antioch  a  '  strictly  denominational  '  college.  (Pardon 
me,  I  do  not  use  the  phrase  here  for  offense  to  your  feelings, 
but  to  designate  the  thing.)  Moreover,  if  the  New  England 
brethren  should  endow  a  professorship  in  Antioch  under  the 
impression  that  Antioch  is  'ours,'  will  not  the  revulsion  of  feel- 
ing when  the  real  state  of  Antioch's  condition  and  ownership 
becomes  known  to  them,  alienate  them  from  the  college,  and 

alienate  them  from  us  whom  they  may  then  deem  agents, or 

at  least  permitters — of  their  deception  ? 

*'  I  hope  you  will  understand  my  aim  in  this  matter.  I  seem 
to  myself  a  sort  of  representative  of  the  Christian  connexion  in 
my  present  '  elect '  relations  to  Antioch.  I  certainly  wish  our 
brethren  to  endow  Antioch  ;  ^fcaus^  they  need  it  so  much. 
But  they  will  not  sufficiently  endow  it  for  many  years.  Some 
of  our  influential  brethren  in  the  West  are  bigots,—-!  think. 
The  financial  management  of  Antioch  is  safer,  I  think,  with 
the  eight  Unitarian  trustees  in  the  Board  ;  and  as  to  their  idea 
of  what  a  college  should  be,  and  their  wish  concerning  Antioch, 
I  must  in  truth  say  that  I  could  confide  in  them  more  fully  than 
in  some  of  our  own  trustees. 

**But  this  is  nothing  to  our  purpose.  My  idea  is  neither 
needlessly  to  offend  the  denominational  prejudices  and  sensi- 
tiveness, nor  to  bow  down  to  them  as  if  I  held  them  in  any  re- 
spect.  I  consider  them  as  corns  and  bunions  not  to  be  trodden 
on  but  to  be  shaved  close  and  rooted  out  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  I  am  afraid  of  concealment.  I  think  it  best  to  let  the 
brethren  see,— see  all  and  see  the  worst. 


Mid 


r 


w 


.fill* 


si 


■f  , 


244    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLX  CRAIG 

I  ^S'you^Z^^:^^^       "^^P"^^'^^  ^y  -^-^e.     Yet, 
/   ^  *vv^uiu   ucar  me  witness,  if  ever  nrra«iV.r.  cU^  u      ' 

qu.re,  that  I  sought  to  set  the  matter  before  the  h-.h'!' 
out  reserve."  ueiore  the  brethren  with- 

This    letter   was  written  Mav  6th  •    i.,    ti.„    • 
the  pttblicatiou  for  Thursday  Lvion    tu        .'T  "'^ 
peared,  covering    an   eutir  ''pa^  f^  ,;  fivel       ''". 
wora,  wtthota  a,ineofspace\h'ro;-nl;;%t:w"a.' 

ruJ^irrherai?  ^^'"'  ^^  --^"'--pro:; 

Of A:tr:;h"'::'r'^sf di'Tr.?'^  ^^^•^^^'^  ^^« — 

v^Lu  Lv  tut«.     He  divided  the  subject  up  into  ih\vixr 

Autioch'    The  exacrsHt      ''!"  ,^"""'^f -««  ^he  path  of 
out      Th«  f.      ^^■f  i  *  ^''**  ''""^•ee  was  pointed 

out.     Tlie  fogs  lut^-d.     Under  the  reorganization  whi.l 
'ad  been  effected  after  the  faih,re  of  fhe  i'st it  t7on   o 

hir^ui  ■;  '"'ir"^"  "■'^'  ^'"^  consequent ;:;: 

sh^.,  Anfoch,  ,n  Dr.  Craig's  answer  to  the  question  in 
the  general  caption,  was  not  "ours,"  the  Christian  d" 

HH       -^     "'^  "'*'  faultfinding  and  bickering  over  Uni- 

i " ;:  ;:?trDr  c-"-  ':•"  ^'^  "^''  "^  ^^-^  ^-"  ^-^ 

put  to  rest,  by  Dr.  Craig's  snnmiing  up  : 

and  endow  an'^'^n';  ° J";,^,.,'!?'  'f,^  »°"ld  take  the  college 

absolutely-withdraw  from  ,11  ^•,  f^  "'?''^  '"  ^ff«^«->f  not 
wholly  up  to  us      But  I  w..     ™"'^o'..and  give  the  institution 

fore  can'^sta°e  this  o  l!  T  '  '^'"  !"  "'^  ^""'^'  ^nd  there- 
who  hear^he  offer  ir"A'"''''''''°"-''«'^^^  from  others 
namely,  that   witho,>f  ?hf      ■•     "  °"^  f^'"'  '  l^a^^  "«  doubt : 

those  whomShf  E  gh^UnS'Trur'  ^"""'^^^  ''^"^  "^ 
dark  hour  when  our   fininr  nl  ^^         ^'''  represent,  in  that 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


245 


in  any  sense  whatever,  that  it  is  ours.— I  for  one,  have  never 
been  sorry  that  Antioch  found  other  friends  besides  ourselves, — 
friends  who  proved  their  affection  for  the  college  by  giving  large 
sums  of  money  to  its  needy  treasury.  May  both  they  and  we 
thus  befriend  the  college,  again  and  again. 

"We  may  withdraw;  but  Antioch  will  still  live.  It  has 
friends,  willing  and  able.  In  time,  they  may  endow  it  richly. 
It  will  be  *  Antioch  College '  in  name,  and, — adhering  to  the 
principles  embodied  in  its  Constitution, — it  will  be  *  Antioch  * 
in  spirit  and  character." 


In  the  following  issue  of  the  same  journal  Rev.  J.  B. 
Weston,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  college  in  the  Christian 
branch  and  professor  of  Greek  in  the  college  as  well, 
issued  a  personal  note  in  which  he,  too,  appealed  to  the 
denomination  to  come  to  the  support,  indeed  the  succour, 
of  the  college.     He  showed  very  plainly  there  w^ere  men 
in  the  denomination  individually  able  to  provide  the  en- 
tire amount  of  money   needed.     He  had   done  a  vast 
amount  of  personal  work  to  save  the  college,  but  he,  too, 
had   reached   his  limit;— as  he  put  it:     **I  feel  that  I 
should  be  committing  the  sin  of  voluntary  suicide,  with 
no  hope  of  any  good  result,  if  I  should  attempt  to  con- 
tinue longer  to  do  as  I  have  done  for  the  past  two  years. 
If  we  have  any  faith  in  the  kingdom  of  God  and  in  the 
enlightenment  of  men  ;  if  we  believe  that  God  has  a 
mission  for  us  and  that  we  are  His  servants  ;  let  us  hear 
the  decisive  responses  at  once  ;  if  not,  let  us  profess  less 
until  we  can  practice  more.'' 

But  matters  did  not  shape  themselves  favourably,  which 
is  another  way  of  saying  that  general  apathy  came  hard 
by  the  point  of  putting  Antioch  to  death.  It  became  ap- 
parent to  Dr.  Craig  that  it  was  best  that  he  should  no 
longer  retain  the  nominal  presidency  of  the  college.  In 
June,  1864,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian denomination  as  follows  : 


111 


! 


I 


246  LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 
"  Dear  Friends  : 

w»  .  "  l"'/",^ '"'""° '■•^s'g"  "le  presidency  of  Antioch  Pnl 
lege,  to  which  I  was  elected  nearly  two  years  ago      The  L/  ^^ 

r^^mng  may  be  deferred  until  the  next'annual  meeting  of  he 
Board  of  Trustees,  on  Tuesday,  the  28th  of  lune  h "t  i 
now^gtve  nottce  of  my  i„u„Uon  to  resign,     m/ "r^Lns  'ari 

ready^'ti  s!,' ^d^^tt 'cX?'Zrr'' ""f ''"«' ^''°"''^  ^e 
such  a  president  as  I  can  never  blvn.,"'' ^°" u^^^  "'"'• 

irusiees   Shall    thereby  be   moved    to  nffpr  \ry  tu^  *tt   •.  . 

able  .hTt^heyThou Id  ele'^'-h  ""^  'r^^^'''  "  i«°"'y  reason- 
case,  therefore^^r^^ll'-^^lir^or-.^;;,.^"^ 

add  ["  ew"S  TtTvou' Chirr ^  r^f  ^^  "^^  '  -"'^ 
appreciate  the  ma  k  of  confidence  which'!^*"'"'  '"^  "'^"^  ^ 
in  the  Board  of  TryiZeTdlT  ^  ,  >'?"''  representatives 
sor  of  men  whose  .h^c    f„,    T^','"  ^'^'=""&  "'^  '^'^  ^"cces- 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


247 


Aniioch — with  many  brethren  unknown  to  me  before,  whom 
now  I  know  to  esteem  and  love. 

"  '  Antioch,'  with  all  its  disappointments  and  griefs,  has  been 
a  bond  of  love  to  many  hearts.  Even  within  these  last  two 
years,  when  at  times  it  seemed  to  me  not  unlikely  that  we  would 
fully  endow,  and  thus  revive  the  Antioch  of  former  days,  I  have 
gladdened  at  the  thought  that  we  might  yet,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  retrieve  the  mistakes  and  errors  of  the  past ;  recover  the 
lost  confidence  of  many ;  win  back  the  love  of  alienated 
brethren  ;  and,  by  faithfulness  and  generosity,  lay  enduring 
foundations  for  the  future  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  Antioch 
College. 

**  To  become  a  worker  with  you  for  healing  the  division  in 
the  church  at  Yellow  Springs,  whose  misfortune  it  once  was  to 
be  too  closely  linked  to  Antioch;  to  aid  in  recovering  to 
Antioch  multitudes  of  former  friends  who,  by  our  mismanage- 
ment, were  deprived  of  '  Scholarship '  rights,  for  which  they 
had  paid  in  full  according  to  our  own  terms,  and  which  we 
could — by  ample  endowment  of  the  college — fully  restore  to 
them  ;  to  be  a  witness  and  cherisher  of  that  mutual  confidence 
and  cooperative  disposition  by  which  the  two  bodies  of 
Antioch's  friends  and  owners  might  mutually  benefit  each  other, 
while  advancing  their  college  to  eminence  for  the  honour  of 
Christ,  and  the  welfare  of  mankind ;  these  were  objects, 
brethren,  for  which,  at  your  hearty  call  and  by  your  abundant 
help,  I  could  have  laid  aside  my  sense  of  insufficiency,  and 
could  have  counted  it  a  joy  to  have  served  you  and  Antioch  for 
a  season. 

'*  The  orator  of  the  *  Union  Literary  Society  of  Antioch 
College,'  at  the  close  of  his  noble  address  last  year,  spoke  of 
Antioch  as  *  the  strongest,  broadest,  and  most  truly  popular  in- 
stitution in  the  land,  which  we  should  not  let  die.*  Through 
all  the  uncertainties  and  discouragements  which,  for  the  few 
years  past,  have  sorely  tried  the  friends  of  Antioch,  many  of 
those  friends  have  been  able  to  hold  fast  the  hope  of  Antioch's 
final  and  full  triumph  ;  because  they  intelligently  believed  that 
such  a  college  as  Antioch  in  idea  was, — and  in  realization  was  fast 
coming  to  be, — is  just  the  institution  that  in  these  days  the  pre- 
cious interests  of  the  Nation  and  the  Church  profoundly  need. 
What  but  such  a  faith  as  this,  could  nerve  the  treasurer  of 
Antioch  College  sitting — after  two  years  of  disappointed  ex- 
pectations— by  his  moneyless  chest,  to  write  (as  in  a  letter  re- 


11 


I! 


'I 


?! 


248    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CIUIG 

ceived  this  very  day  he  writes).  '  I  still  hope  that  God  willooen 
a  way  for  us,  at  or  before  Commencement  '  ^ 

"In  thus  announcing  my  resignation,  I  do  not  resim  mv 
hearty  .merest  m  the  college,  nor  my  cherished  hope  hat ^n 
honourable  and  useful  career  still  awaits  it.  Nor  do  I  re  ign 
the  hope,  dear  brethren,  that,  though  our  late  undertak  ngs  for 
Ant.och  may  not  be  the  success  we  anticipate,  wesSl  m  hold 
fast  our  love  for  our  first-born,  and  be  ready  in  future  onnnr 
tun.t.es  to  do  for  the  college  what  we  can.  ^^ 

"Bloomins  Grov,,  N.  V.,  May  24,  rfd!^."'"'"''  ^''*"'- 

The  inevitable  end  now  came.     All  efforts  to  resuscitate 
the  college   by  appeals  to  the  Cliristian  denomination 
being  unavailing,  the  American  Unitarian  Association, 
in  December,  1864,  at  a  meeting  held  in  Boston,-"  ail 
ever  memorable  meeting  to  the  friends  of  Antioch  Col- 
lege, 'as  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale  calls  it  in  another 
place  in  this  volnme,-voted  that  it  would  raise  one  hun- 
dred  thousiind  dollars  for  the  endowment  of  the  college 
Tins  was  with  the  proviso  that  the  institution  should  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  new  corporation.     The  money 
wiis  collected,  the  corporation  was  effected,  and  Antioch 
entered  upon  a  new  lease  of  life. 

C^  'T;  r'T!^'  "'"'"'■  ^''^'  '■°''  *^«  f°°»ding  of  the 
Chn..tian  Biblical  Institute,  which  is  more  fully  treated 
m  later  chapten..     Of  this  institution,  when  established, 
Dr  Craig  was  to  be,  as  he  did  become,  the  first  president 
A  new  head  for  Antioch  was  needed  at  once.     It  wi« 
the  earnest^ hope  of  the  trustees  that  General,  afterwards 
President  Garfield,  a  member  of  the  Christian  denomina- 
tion, should  be  the  new  i)resident  of  Antioch.     Dr.  Craig 
carried  on  the  correspondence  with  General  Garfield,  but 
the  ellort  to  secure  him  failed.     Strong  hopes  were  then 
entertained  that  John  A.  Andrew,  the  War  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  would  accept  the  place.     In  a  letter  to 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  written  from  Blooming  Grove 


1/ 


i 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


249 


Dr.  Craig,  who  had  agreed  to  accept  a  professorship 
temporarily  at  Autioch,  noted  the  coniiDg  of  Governor 
Andrew  (mentioned  iis  assured  in  a  former  letter  to  Dr. 
Craig  from  Dr.  Hale),  and  asked  Dr.  Hale,  as  he  was  in 
a  position  of  responsibility  in  the  new  corporation,  for  a 
letter  of  instructions.  In  resuming  his  position  as  one  of 
the  professors  of  Antioch,  Dr.  Craig  had  been  asked  to 
take  charge  of  the  college  pending  Governor  Andrew's 
arrival.  **  Won't  you  say  a  word  to  me,"  he  wrote  to 
Dr.  Hale,— ^'  you  know  you  may  say  anything  to  me  in 
all  confidence— in  regard  to  possible  arrangements, 
mutually  agreeable,  it  may  be,  both  to  the  college  and  to 
the  *  Christian  '  church  in  the  town  ?  I  would  not  seek 
any  *  entangling  alliances,'  yet  it  would  be  well 
(would  it  not?)  to  pursue  a  thoroughly  kind  and 
conciliatory  policy  with  regard  to  that  church.  Please 
make    any  suggestions  you  think  best  in  relation  to 

this." 

On  August  17,  1865,  a  communication  was  addressed  to 
the  executive  committee  of  the  college,  signed  by  Rev. 
H.  W.  Bellows,  Edward  Everett  Hale,  and  E.  W. 
Clark  ;  the  committee  appointed  to  make  selection  of  a 
president,  reporting  the  progress  made.  It  was  shown  in 
the  report  that  Governor  Andrew  had  the  matter  under 
consideration  and  that  he  would  in  all  probability  a<icept. 
Governor  Andrew  was  one  of  the  distinguished  figures  of 
Massachusetts. 

"He  is,"  the  report  set  forth,  "a  man  of  large  and 
tried  experience,  yet  in  the  prime  of  life  ;  with  public 
talents  and  private  character  of  the  choicest  description  ; 
equally  beloved  and  respected  ;  a  statesman,  philanthro- 
pist, and  gentleman  ;  profoundly  religious  yet  a  layman  ; 
the  chosen  head  of  the  late  national  conference  of  the 
Unitarians,  possessing  their  entire  confidence,  and  yet 
without  a  sectarian  name  or  the  least  distrust  of  other 


fiii 


\\\ 


hi    :l 


i'\ 


M\ 


!l 


250     LIFK  WD  LKTTEIiS  OF  AUSTIN  CKAKJ 

roliKi„u.s  lM,.li,.s;wi(h  an  iniM.<.M,se>  jTrstigo  iw  a  patriot 
..v..r  .1.,,  «hol..  „M.i..n  ;  .  „.„lo,nKl  I„v..,-  of  k<k„I  I..!„„i  ' 
w.ll.nu    a<.;ul,.„.ic  ,,ru,|..rv  -r  a.,li,,„a...,l  pnj, vs  of  a 

<'"""l'l   i.nvs,..ve  all  that  was  val,.al,l,.  i,.  his  nVi,,.,.'. 

-  "..a.-...st  aavis..,-  of  l-.vsi.h.,.,  „i„,  ,.,  ,,„.,j  ,,,^^  ^  ' 
that  w=w  ....  .Kht,..„.d  i..  his  i,.,li..y  ,,a,.k  to  J.i«old  ,lur 
and    b.,.o„„   .hcs.,   a....   th.  ,.,o..... „f  ,;«  ,„;,|;: 

J;".';.,..; ■'  '"""■'■""'  '""""•'  '"^  '■"■" '"'"  «•■•"■■"  ''x: 

An!th'wm,''1/^     nul.".s  n..„...st,  I,,-.  Craig  h.uried  to 

n n  .tf  '     '"■'■■■^■"""'•^-    /"  --  l"-"'y  i."P."rative  that  a 

."  o    la.K..  ,,.nv..,..s  a,..l  a,..ph.  attain,.„.,.,,s  he  d.ose.,  to 

;•""•-'"••«.-..  thl.  ..n,i..al  ho,.,.,  a,„l  t,h,.  l,oa,.d  of 

.uM.vs  „.n.,.d  ,„  ,„,  ,vaij,  ,.v,.„  tho,.Kh  hi«  aid  b.  l„.t 
t^- "I.o.a.y.     Wi,h  n...  ,.nd,.,.s,a..di,„  ,ha,  it  w.s  to  b 

A  .t..K  .,    ....a.,.,..o„s,y    .n,,:, i,y   tL    board'  o 

h  ..st.es.  lad  he  .,.,t  h.le..  .,eeo.„e  the  h,.ad  of  tLe 
Chr.s  .a,,  .{.hl.eal  I,..stitute,  whi..),  h.  ,,,„e  a..d  main- 
ta...e,l  a  powerful  factor  i..  ..eliKio..s  lif.  ,„  ,|,e  ,hty  of  hi« 
•'"-•";  '■<•  <--'<I  l-ve^ive,.  to  A..,ioeh  s,.eh  a  pJnnl .    . 

,!;•■'" :/  ='-^  '"^<>adilio.,sa...l  ..oble.s..opede„.a;.ded.     As 

was.  .ho,.«h  heavily  ha..di..app..,I  by  U.e  double  d,.tie8 
'•'d  up...,  h,.„  as  p.ofes.sor  and  p.v.si.le..t,  his  work  told 
spl.„,id.y  for  the  f..t,.re  .s  well  L  ,he  p.;se.rof  the  11 

Xo  tune  was  lost  i„  p„„i„j,  A„t,„,„  i,„o  shape.     The 
n  ;  e^  .,  "  "T  ='"";""-^"-^"-"  '••■">nu-l  five  endowed 

r  •*  •^''*^  "'-V  '"  ''^"'<I-     All  the  .lebts  of  the  colleire  had 

protthsoi-ships  and  (Iumi-  incnnilH^nts  were  : 


II 


! 


ANTIOCII  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


251 


Rev.  Austin  Craig,  D.  D.,  Bellows  Professor  of  Moral  and 
Intellectual  Philosophy. 

Rev.  N.  Sheldon,  I).  D.  (late  president  of  Waterville  Col- 
lege, Maine),  Professor  of  Classical  Literature. 

Rev.  John  15.   Weston,   additional  Professor  of  Greek  and 

Latin. 

Prof.  E.  L.   Youmans    (of  New  York   City),  Professor   of 

Natural  Science  and  of  Mathematics. 

Prof.  Frederick  Shutz  (of  New  York  City),  Professor  of 
History  and  of  Modern  Languages. 

Prof.  Mward  Orion,  later  president  of  the  University 
(.f  ( )liio,  was  made  the  head  of  the  preparatory  department. 
Professor  Youmans  was  the  first  editor  of  the  Pajmlar 
Science  Monthlij  and  a  leader  in  the  scientific  progress  of 
America.  The  iiew  board  of  trustees  was  composed  of 
the  following  members,  not  a  few  of  them  leaders  in  the 
religious  and  commercial  life  of  the  day  : 

Rev.  H.  W.  Bellows,  N.  Y.  ;  E.  E.  Hale,  Boston ;  A.  D. 
Mayo,  Cincinnati ;  Eli  Fay,  Woburn,  Mass.  ;  Amasa  Stanton, 
Marion,  N.  Y. ;  John  Philips,  Ind.  ;  Thos.  VV.  McVVhinney, 
Yellow  Si)rings  ;  Joseph  Weeks,  John  Ellis,  John  Van  Mater, 
William  C.  Russell,  Yellow  Springs;  A.  A.  Ix>w,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.  ;  Richard  Warren,  N.  Y.;  H.  P.  Kidder,  Boston  ;  E.  W. 
Clark,  Philadelphia  ;  John  Kebler,  Cincinnati ;  John  H.  Foster, 
Chicago;  Artemas  Carter,  Chicago;  O.  G.  Steel,  Buffalo; 
E.  W.  Devore,  Ripley,  Ohio. 

With  Dr.  Craig  as  president,  the  college  opened  in 
September,  1865.  He  put  the  whole  force  of  his  life  into 
the  work.  He  not  only  worked  unceasingly  for  the  in- 
stitution in  the  direct  lines  of  executive  labour,  but  he 
worked  for  it  constantly  indirectly  by  interesting  others 
in  its  welfare  and  winning  them  to  the  same  ardent  sup- 
port which  he  gave  it.  The  college  was  widely  known 
throughout  the  United  States  not  only  because  it  had 
had    as    its   first   president   the    foremost  educator  in 


t'.^i 


KL  i 


n 


r 

il.    I 


26a  lifp:  am>  Li;r'ri:i{s  of  ai'stlv  ni.wa 

^"''■'''•■'  '""  ' ■■"'^•"f  ll.o.s,,l... I  IraiMinK  '•  adonl.-.l 

a...!  .1...  .y,,,.aM,l  .h.nul.-r  „f  ,l,os..  wl..„a  it  gnulnaU-i. 

1^  T;  T" '""""'  " ■'■  '•'■  '''■'"''""  "''••'•^"""  <■<'■• 

IN..>-(,(,,  sIk.ws  .slu.l.i.l..,     ,|..spi(,.  (|».  (art   (hal  (h.n.l 
H'.-^  I.U.I  iKH-n  ,.lo.s,.,l  f.„-,„oy,-ar.s,_,Vo,u  ....arly  all  (he 
Yu.U.rMaM.1  ...uKll.,  \V...s.e,„  .sla....s  us  wHI  xs  s.,;„..  fn.,a 
the  S.,„tl,  and  .,„.-  fro..,  Ha.,  K.aa.is,..,.     <  )th..,-  p,„f..,ss...s 
an,l  ..s.s>sla.,..s  we,,-  i„stall,.,l.     Tl„.,v  was  a  ...usic  ,l,.pa,; 
""'•"  ■'  ;'  "">"'='"  <"Mrs..  (■,„•  irmuiuK  taM'l.c,«  for  (l.o  \;,u, 
".on  .s..hool.s,  whid,  ,-n.l,..a.cd  a  uunM  ,„-i„,a,y  ,s,.l,„.,,  i„ 
'— H.on  with  ...c  ..oil..,.,  fo,.  ,...a.,i,.al   woVk,  will 
8p.M.al  normal  oo„.s,.  f,„.  „,„^.  „.,,„  ,,,,,.,.  ,„  j,,.  ,.„^       ; 
h.Kl.  s.. hool   ,oa..|,i„^.      ,„   ,„   i„  ,i,„,,  „„.  ,.,,„^ 
tl.o.o,>Kl.l.v  ubirasl  will.,  a.,,1  ahoa.l  of,  tl,..,.H. 

;mt   aptitudes,  which   inhere   m  the  (hlTereni  orders  of  miiuk 
Hu.  ^cultyis  unanimously  adverse  to  c  onduci  ;\!^h,S' 
^thcfl^o"   'T'r  'T  ^'^  ""^  l-^>re,^in  hHncMndimS 
^>m    Se?'      n ''7^  distinguishing  one  ind.vid"^ 

irom  another.      1  he  fatal   error  of  thwarting  the  nnnife^f  in 
tentiot^s  of  nature  and  fon  ing  upon  all  niirfcl    alik^  1^  . .  ^ 
inflexible  iron  system  of  training,  will  be  sedulously  avolll" 

Tlie  position  of  (lie  voUego  upon  the  subj.vt  of  moral 
training  was  'Mhat  intoIh..tual  power,  di\on.ed  from 
moral  p^rpos.^  is  an  instrumentality  of  pure  evil  in  the 
community-,  and  that  a  youn,  person  may  a.  well  be  J't 
out  into  the  world  without  the  knowledge  of  (he  multi- 
P  loation  table  as  without  "n<let.standingof  thep    nX^^^^^ 

Ship    publie  spirit,   and  an    interest  in  the  prominent 
-.al  cpKvsttons  of  the  day.'^     Ko  other  refer'ncTtii 


|i 


ANTIOCn  UNDER  DU.  CRAICf 


253 


this  appeared,  —if,  indeed,  it  could  be  taken  fus  a  refer- 
^.,j(.(.^_to  the  war  of  the  rebellion  then  but  just  closed. 
An  interesting  feature  of  the  college  was  that  no  special 
chtss  honours  for  intellectual  preeminence  were  offered. 
The  emulation-syst<^m,  as  it  was  called,  was  eliminated. 
"Other  and  higher  motives  than  that  of  mere  rivalry '' 
were  aj) pealed  to  as  incentives  to  study. 

As  hiis  been  nott^l,  Antioch  luwl  hvvn  the  first  college 
in  the  world  to  admit  young  men  and  women  on  the  same 
bjisis  to  the  same  studies,  and  Mr.  Craig  was  one  of  the 
first  to  advocate  co-education  for  the  proposed  college. 
Jn  June,  1850,  he  wrote  urging  a  bjusis  ''which,"  in  his 
words,  "shall  a<lmit  girls  to  equal  privileges  with  boys." 
It  was  now  to  face  a  graver  problem,  the  question  of  the 
admission  of  the  negro.  The;  closing  of  the  war,  the 
freeing  of  the  negro  and  their  large  influx  to  the  North 
during,  and  just  after  the  war,  left  a  large  contingent  of 
young  negroes  in  the  North,  some  of  whom  were  anxious 
to  better  themselves  intellectually.  One  day  there  came 
a  test.  Ai>plication  for  admission  had  been  made  by  a 
coloured  student.  At  a  trustees'  niex;ting  the  subject  was 
discussed.  In  a  little  memorandum  book  preserved 
among  the  many  letters  and  papers  which  are  the  price- 
less possession  of  the  family  of  Dr.  Craig,  there  is  the 
following  brief  sUiteraent  of  the  outcome,  written  in  lead- 
pencil  in  his  handwriting : 

"  Resolved,  that  the  trustees  of  Antioch  College  cannot,  ac- 
cording to  the  charter,  reject  persons  on  account  of  their  colour. 
Adopted  ;  nine  to  four. ' ' 

The  memoranda  gives  Craig,  Fay,  Holmes,  Weeks, 
Weston,  Birch,  Kebler,  Van  Mater,  and  Philips,  as  vot- 
ing for  the  resolution. 

Apropos  of  this  is  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
written  by  Dr.  Craig  some  time  previous : 


!  i 


s 


254    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"While  the  Jerusalem  ministers  were  as  yet  so  bound  up  in 
their  narrow  Jewish  prejudices,  *  preaching   the  word  to  none 
but  unto  the  Jews  only'  (Acts  ii  :  29),  some  men  of  Cyprus 
and   Cyrene   (Cyrene   in   Africa)   'when   they  were  come  to 
Antioch,  spake  unto  the  Grecians,  preaching  the  Lord  Jesus' 
(Acts   11:  20).      Their   names  are  given   in   Acts   13-  i  •__ 
'There    were    in    the    church    that    was   at    Antioch   certain 
prophets  and  teachers  as   Barnabas  (of  Cyprus),  and  Simeon 
that  was  called  Niger,  and  Lucius  of  Cyrene,'  etc.,  etc      Two 
of   the    five  mentioned,    were,   apparently,   Africans.     Lucius 
certainly^  was  from   the  north  coast  of  Africa,  as  his  country 
'Cyrene'  vouches.     And  Simeon  was  surnamed  'Niger'  (or 
as  oneoldest  English  translation— VVickiifre's— gives  it  Black -^ 
'Symount  that  was  clepid  blak,'  Black  Simeon  of  Antioch,' to 
distinguish    him    from    Stone    Simeon   of    Jerusalem   (Sirnon 
Peter) ;  beware  that  you  don't  modernize  the  orthography,  after 
the  Nasby  method  (not  two  gs,   but  one).     Happy  thing  for 
us  that  Black  Simeon  and  his  African  coadjutor  Lucius,  had 
none  of  those  mean  prejudices  against  men  of  a  different  race 
and  colour,  which  might  have  kept  them  back  from  founding 
that  church  at  Antioch  which  first  deserved  and  obtained  the 
glorious  name  of  'Christians.'  " 

Dr.  Craig  apan^d  himself  in  no  degree  in  the  adminis- 
tratiou  of  tlie  affairs  of  the  college.  In  a  letter  to  a 
friend  giving  a  reason  for  not  having  sooner  answered  a 
letter,  Dr.  Craig  says,  writing  from  Yellow  Springs,  De- 
cembt^r  29,  1865  : 

"  Mv  DEAR  Brother  : 

"  It  shames  me  to  find  that  my  long  silence  has  put  you 
to  the  trouble  of  duplicating  to  me  your  much  esteemed  favour 
of  July  29th,  last. 

"  Your  letter  reached  me  duly  at  Blooming  Grove,  in  the 
state  of  New  York,~-where  I  had  been  settled  as  pastor  for 
twelve  or  thirteen  years.  But  it  arrived  while  I  was  full  of  the 
cares  and  occupations  attendant  upon  the  removal  of  my  home 
and  family  to  this  place,— 800  miles  westward  from  Blooming 
Grove  (on  the  Hudson).  On  my  arrival  here  (early  in  Sep- 
tember last),  the  work  of  reorganizing  and  starting  anew 
(after    a    suspension    of    two   years)— the   school    known   as 


I 


o 

en 

o 

ill 
(n 


o 

o 

u 

X 

u 
o 

H 

< 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


255 


1..f 


*Antioch  College/  was  assigned  to  me. — I  had  expected  only 
the  duty  of  the  professorship  to  which  I  had  been  chosen. 
The  various  duties  of  this  school, — I  mean  its  supervision, 
government,  correspondence,  business-interests  in  part,  and 
some  work  of  daily  instruction,  together  with  the  general 
chapel  service  on  school-days,  and  preaching  on  Sundays, — so 
occupied  my  time,  that  I  was  compelled  to  defer  my  private 
correspondence  in  mass,  until  the  close  of  the  term.  (Decem- 
ber 15  th.) 

**  During  this  term,  the  work  of  settling  anew  here  added  to 
my  occupations.  The  day  that  our  term  closed,  I  started  for 
Meadville  in  Pennsylvania,— 300  miles  from  this  place,  to  de- 
liver my  annual  lectures  to  the  students  of  the  divinity  school 
there.  I  was  in  that  place  two  Sundays  and  eight  school- 
days,— preached  five  times,  and  delivered  fourteen  divinity- 
school  lectures  of  an  hour  and  a  half  each  (for  my  stay  was 
briefer  than  usual,  and  I  felt  compelled  to  crowd  the  work), — 
visited  much  with  the  students,  and  wrote  between  thirty  and 
forty  letters  in  answer  to  private  correspondents  whose  favours 
had  been  accumulating  upon  me  during  the  last  few  months. 
Yesterday  I  arrived  home  from  Meadville ;  to-morrow  I  go  to 
Cincinnati  to  preach  there  on  Sunday,  the  31st  of  December,  an 
ordination  sermon,  and  next  Wednesday,  January  3,  1866,  I 
must  be  here  again,  to  open  the  winter  term  of  our  school. 

"I  write  you  all  these  personal  details  of  myself,  my  dear 
brother,  to  excuse  to  you,  as  far  as  possible,  my  long  silence." 


11 


In  this  connection  a  letter  which  Dr.  Craig  wrote  to 
Edward  Everett  Hale  not  long  after  the  above  illustrates 
still  further  the  heavy  demands  made  upon  the  president's 
time  and  strength. 


f 


"I  am  very  glad,"  he  writes,  "to  think  that  I  am  at  last 
free  from  the  heavy  responsibilities,  and  I  will  add  exhausting 
labours,  of  the  year.  Could  I  have  foreseen  what  the  year  was 
to  be,  when  Dr.  Bellows  drew  to  me  in  August  last  his  charm- 
ing picture  of  that  *  first  year  of  great  enjoyment  at  Antioch,' 
I  think  perhaps  I  should  have  stayed  with  my  parish. 

•*  I  send  you  on  an  accompanying  sheet,  a  statement  of 
expenditures  here  for  the  college  year,  i865-'66.     I  prepared 


.pr 


I. 


f '  I '  5 


lip 

Hi' 


250     LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAK; 

it  for  the  use  of  my  report  of  executive  committee  work. 
I  took  the  treasurer's  ( ash-bo(;k,  copieci  out  its  entries  and 
the  sei)arate  items  of  the  vouchers,  referred  to  in  the  entries 
(there  were  over  2,100  items,  in  all)  ;  verified  ihecash-lx^ok  by 
the  vouchers  ;  proved,— and  in  some  instances,  corrected,  the 
account ;  analyzed  the  2,100  items,  and  classified  them,  'xhc 
results  I  give  you  under  the  several  headings  in  the  accom 
panying  paper. 

"  Part  of  my  design  was  to  be  able  to  sliow  the  trustees 
how  much  money  must  be  spent  next  year  for  warming,  light- 
ing, service,  etc.,  before  we  coine  to  the  outlay  for  teaching, 
so  that  our  estimate  for  next  year  might  be  ba.sed  upon  the 
certamties  of  knowk-dge,  rallier  than  (jucries  and  ai)proxima- 
tions.  'I'his  work  in  all  cost  me  several  weeks'  labour,  in 
which  the  evenings  sometimes  drew  far  on  into  the  night  1 
am  telling  you  what  the  work  of  my  place  has  l)een  this  year. 
I  have  sent  to  your  committee  (chiefly  to  Dr.  Uellows) 
several  reports  of  business  affairs  here,  accounts  of  term's 
business ;  some  of  consitlerable  length  and  labour.  I  re- 
member, of  this  class,  one  of  ten  foolscaj)  i)ages,  written 
for  Mr.  Fay,  but  sent  to  you  last  January  ;  another  of  twelve 
toolscap  pages  to  Dr.  Ikllows  in  March  ;  another  laboriously 
prepared  report  (though  not  oftic  ial)  early  in  this  month  (it 
fills  thirty  pjges  of  letter  paper).  Other  reports  were  of  busi- 
ness of  less  amplitude. 

"  The  correspondence  of  the  college  has  been  in  my  hands. 
All  appli(  ations  for  information,  from  all  (piarters,  have  come 
to    me.     'I'his   latter   is   recorded   in  the  book  in  which  I  have 
kept   notices  of  letters  sent  (or  in    important   cases,    copies). 
Besides    the   correspondence,    applications    in    i)erson,    of  all 
sorts  come   to   my   office.      Whoever   has  (or  thinks  he  has) 
general  business,   or   particular,  with  the  college,  comes  to  my 
office.     Then   every  day,    I   have  had   to  spend   most  of  the 
school-hours   in    the   president's  room;  for  all  matters  touch- 
ing  absences    from  ( lass  or   chapel,   applications   for  permis- 
sion, or  excuses  for  absences  come   to   me,    of  course.      Hear- 
ing reports  of  all    matters   in    the  matron's  dej)aitment,  was 
my    duty    too,    and    all    discipline    was    in  my  hands— in  its 
details;    mine   was   the   work  of  keeping  track  of  the  reported 
absentees,    sending    the   faculty   messenger   after   them    daily 
(generally),   I  hearing  the  issue;    executive  committee  busi- 
ness;   writing  the  orders,   the   business  notes;    giving  direc- 


ANTIOCII  under  dr.  CRAIG 


257 


tions  to  those  employed  by  us,  to  the  bell  ringer  and  helpers 
of  various  kinds  ;   looking  after  the  grounds  and  premises. 

'«The  work  has  been  much, — I  cannot  specify  it  well. 
Hearing  all  conn)laints  from  students;  their  arrangement  in 
(lasses,  or  about  their  board  ;  all  applications  for  changes 
,,f  ;ill  sorts  that  dissatisfied  students  so  easily  devise;  re- 
ceiving visitors  who  come  to  the  place  frequently,  talking 
of  the  college  to  them,  and  showing  them  through  the 
(.(^llt-ge, — some  coming  expressly  to  see  the  institution. 
Much  time  has  been  taken  up  in  this  way.  The  duties  of 
my  professorship  I  have  not  mentioned.  I  have  in  this, 
(lone  all  that  was  to  be  done.  An  hour  a  day  of  recitation 
or  lecture,  about  fifty  lectures  in  place  of  recitations,  and 
such  preparation  as  I  had  time  and  opportunity  to  make 
(couldn't  study  much). 

**  Chapel  services  were  performed  by  me  to  the  extent 
(I  estimate)  of  about  two-thirds  of  all  (or  counting  in  the 
afternoon  Bible  lectures  given  during  the  first  term,  about 
three-fourths  of  all).  All  occasional  addresses  to  the  pupils, 
at  morning  chapel,  fell  to  me.  Of  duties  of  hospitality  and 
society,  ever  regarded  here  as  belonging  to  the  president  of 
the  college,  I  assumed  the  full  measure  as  soon  as  I  entered 
the  President's  House  with  my  family.  Many  occasions  there 
have  been  when  newly  arrived  professors  were  brought  to- 
gether there  to  the  table ;  many  when  visitors  of  the  college, 
or  persons  likely  to  be  influential  in  regard  to  the  college, 
were  invited  in  the  same  way.  Not  a  few  occasions  when 
whole  classes,  and  several  times  larger  companies  of  students, 
or  students  and  teachers,  were  invited  to  an  evening  or 
afternoon  party  at  the  President's  House,  —to  tea  or  dinner, 
or  other  kind  of  entertainment  implying  refreshments. 

"  These  things  I  have  done  (and  not  stinted ly)  because 
I  knew  that  it  was  important  to  have  such  things  done,  knew 
that  it  was  expected  of  the  president's  position  and  house,  and 
I  was  willing  (having  temporarily  accepted  the  duties  of  the 
place)  to  incur  expenses  in  these  things,  which  I  assure  you 
have  not  been  light. 

"  I  write  you  these  details  because  I  wish  you  to  know 
both  what  I  have  done  and  what  I  have  not  done.  My  own 
burden  I  willingly  bear,  but  no  more.  And  indeed  my  own 
burden  here  this  year  feels  heavy  to  me.  Very  little  freedom 
and  leisure   have  been  mine,  and  (what  presses  me  still  more 


i 


ii'i' 


I 


n 


i  I 


V 


258    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

closely)  I  find  myself  by  the  necessary  expenses  of  the 
year  (of  course  I  include  herein  expeubCb  of  removal),  several 
hundred  dollars  out  of  pocket. 

"  I  assure  you  of  the  respect  which  I  cherish  for  you  now 
as  ever.  Truly  yours, 

**  Austin  Craig." 

Illiistrative  of  the  breadth  of  Dr.  Craig  and  his  in- 
terest in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  uplift  of  the  race 
is  a  letter  written  by  him  to  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale  on 
March  17,  18GG.     In  it  he  says  : 

*' Could  you  (easily)  put  us  in  the  way  of  receiving  the 
Reports  of  the  Social  Science  Committees — and  of  the 
Prison  Association,  or  other  benevolent  societies  or  insti- 
tutions of  your  state?  Do  not  let  my  request  put  you  to 
trouble.  But,  if  it  were  easy  for  you  to  cause  such  publi- 
cations to  be  sent  us,  they  would  be  read  with  interest  here. 

**  At  one  of  our  Sabbath-evening  Social  readings,  attention 
was  called  to  the  destitute  condition  of  a  Miss  Milliken — an 
orphan  refugee  from  Tennessee,  who  was  then  sick  in  this 
town.  (She  died  last  week.)  A  committee  was  appointed 
to  visit  her,  learn  her  needs,  supply  any  pressing  necessities 
of  hers,  and  report  at  our  next  Sunday  evening  meeting.  We 
did  so.  She  was  a  worthy,  needy  person,  aged  about  nineteen. 
Her  father  was  a  Unionist,  and  was  shot  in  his  own  door. 
She  came  away  with  our  troops. 

**  After  our  report,  it  was  resolved  by  the  Sunday  even- 
ing meeting  to  open  a  subscription  and  provide  for  her. 
Mrs.  Tucker  (the  matron)  and  some  of  the  young  lady 
students  had  the  matter  entrusted  to  them.  They  obtained 
over  fifty  dollars  in  money  among  us — teachers  and  students, 
—and  arranged  among  themselves  a  plan  of  visitation,  to  visit 
Miss  Milliken  by  days  and  watch  with  her  nights,  which  they 
faithfully  did  until  her  death.  They  also  looked  up  other 
cases  of  need  and  destitution,  reported  them  to  the  Sunday 
evening  meetings,  and  furnished  various  supplies.  The 
reading  of  the  article  in  the  JVorf/i  American  on  the  Irish 
Prison  System  at  our  Sunday  evening  meeting,  March  4th, 
stirred  up  several  to  wish  to  visit  the  jails  of  our  region. 
Professor  Russell  (who  is  a  great  help  to  us  here  in  man/ 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


259 


ways)  offered  to  take  students   with  him  to  the  jails.     The 
following  Saturday,  a  company  of  them  visited  the  Spring- 
field   jail    (nine    miles    from    this   place).      Yesterday   they 
visited  the  Xenia  jail  and  our  County  Poor   House.     They 
propose  to  visit  the  State  Prison  at  Columbus  in  a  few  weeks. 
«'  Much  interest  is   growing    up   thus    (with   some   of  our 
students)   in   the   condition    of  the   poor   and  the  lost.     We 
would  like  to  increase  it  as  much  as  possible.     If  you  could 
now  and  then  mention  something  in  this  line,  that  we  could 
procure  to  increase  this  interest  among  us,  I  would  be  very 
thankful.     Dr.     Howe    recently    presented   a  report   on    the 
comparative  mortality  of  children  in  different  ranks  of  society 
(at  least,   that  was  the  point  noted  in  the  brief  reference  to 
the   report   which   I   found   in   a   paper).— How  could  I  get 
that  ?     Dr.   Howe   used  to  know  Antioch.     Would  it  be  at  all 
out  of  the  way  if  I  asked  him  to  send  our  college  a  copy  of 

his  report  ? 

"Let  me  trouble  you  a  little  further.— You  will  bear  with 
me  for  the  college's  sake,— what  really  good,  brief  tract  on 
the  Use  of  Tobacco,  could  you  commend  to  me,  for  distribu- 
tion among  our  lads  here  ?  Are  Mr.  Trask's  quite  the  thing? 
I  know  them  only  by  name.  And  do  you  know  anything 
better  on  the  subject  than  Dr.  John  Ware's  '  Hints  to  Young 
Men  '  ?  Mr.  Mann  used  to  distribute  that  tract,  and  I  have 
copies  yet  on  hand." 

Dr.  Craig  never  swerved  from  his  devotion  to  his 
own  denomination,— or,  better  put,  from  his  allegiance 
to  a  simple  and  direct  form  of  Christianity,  for  he 
ever  put  Christ  above  creed,— even  though  there  were 
sharp  criticisms  of  his  words  from  some  of  the  older, 
meagrely  educated,  and  less  broad-minded  of  the  preach- 
ers of  the  Christian  faith.  Nor  did  he  ever  lose  an  op- 
portunity to  help  them.  In  a  letter  to  be  read  before  the 
state  convention  of  the  denomination,  written  from  Anti- 
och in  November,  1866,  he  said  : 

**  The  education  of  the  ministry  may  occupy  attention  some- 
what. It  must  be  a  few  years  yet  before  our  brethren  have  an 
ample  Biblical  school  of  their  own.     Meanwhile  our  young 


11 

il 


fl 


L  X,        "^^f-- 


fl 


260     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CEAIG 

brethren  who  wish  to  prepare  themselves  by  study  for  larger 
usefulness  in  the  ministry,  would  find  help  and  welcome  at  the 
MeadviUe    Theological    Seminary;    or,    if  that    seem   too  far 
away,  or  its  course  of  study  too  extended  for  their  opportunity 
then  they  might  find  here  at  Antiuch  the  helps  they  wish. 

;'  I  am  teaching  this  term  a  class  in  Biblical  Geography  and 
History  which  would  be,  J  am  confident,  very  interesting  and 
useful  to  all  students  somewliat  advanced, —especially  to  young 
men  looking  to  the  ministry.     Then,  again,  1  teach  a  volunteer 
class  in  the  Greek  New  Testament  which  can  be  continued  as 
long    as    there    are  persons   here  desiring  it.     Dr.  Dosmer  is 
teaching  a  class  in  the  History  of  Civilization,  whi(  h  though 
not  specifically  Church  HiNtory,  does,  nevertheless,  so  illuminate 
the  history  of  the  great  elements  contributed  by  Christianity  to 
our   modern   society  that   the  student  gets  a  good  insight  into 
the   relations   of   the  Church   to  the  world  of  the  Middle  and 
Modern  Age.     Dr.  Hosmer  will    next    term   teach  a  class  in 
Moral   Philosophy  and   Ethics.     I   expect   to  teach  classes  in 
Mental  Philosophy  and  in  Evidences  of  Christianity.     In  con- 
nection with   the  latter,  we  will  study  the  transmission  of  the 
bacred  Books  from  ancient   times  down  to  our  day,  and  the 
history  of  our  English  Bible. 

"Besides  these  things  a  young  minister  could  study  here 
Logic,  Rhetoric,  Ancient  and  Modern  History,  Grammar, 
Languages,  Physiology  and  various  other  sciences,  making  a 
selection  of  such  studies  as  he  might  deem  specially  useful  to 
his  purpose;  and  so  i)erhaj)s  spending  a  year  or  two,  or  even 
three,  to  as  much  advantage  here  as  anywhere  else. 

**As  to  the  influences  here  thrown  around  students,  I  be- 
lieve  that  tliey  are  truly  Christian.  I  have  great  faith  that 
Antioch  by  the  blessing  of  God,  is  to  be  more  and  more  a 
school  of  Christ.  We  mean  not  to  detract  from  other  schools 
--there  is  room  enough  for  all  the  schools  now  among  us  and 
the  prosperity  of  one  will,  to  some  extent,  be  the  prosperity  of 
all ;  but  we  wish  Antioch  to  be  favourably  known  to  our  breth- 
ren. Perhaps  these  special  helj)s  which  it  can  now  afford  to 
some  among  us  who  wish  to  study  a  while  for  greater  efficiency 
in  their  ministry,  may  make  it  not  improper  that  Antioch  should 
nave  a  few  moments'  notice  in  your  convention." 


Dr.  Craig  came  into  particularly  close  and  intimate 
touch  with  the  students  under  him.     The  affection  for 


I 


^serS 


ti 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


261 


M 


him  is  shown  by  numerous  letters  written  by  students  and 
miiuifested  in  many  other  ways.  But  he  was  not  only 
kind,  he  was  just,  also,  and  no  wrongdoing  could  for  a 
moment  be  tolerated.  Whatever  he  himself  might  have 
thought  about  the  needlessness  of  the  prohibition  against 
dancing  and  other  similar  regulations,  he  was  granite 
when  it  came  to  any  question  involving  known  evil.  In 
a  letter  to  a  young  man  living  in  a  Western  state  he  said  : 

<«  When  I  first  saw  you  as  you  were  applying  for  admission 
to  our  school  last  fall,  your  evident  maturity  and  capacity  led 
me  to  expect  a  considerable  advantage  to  our  school  from  your 
membership  in  our  classes  and  your  intercourse  with  our  stu- 
dents. The  college  had  then  but  lately  been  resuscitated  after 
its  temporary  suspended  animation,  and  we  had  not  yet  formed 
its  new  life  to  the  full  resemblance  of  its  former  excellence. 
That  former  excellence  was  largely  due,  as  President  Mann 
often  gladly  acknowledged,  to  the  presence  here,  at  the  very 
beginning,  of  a  number  of  students  mature  in  age  and  char- 
acter, who,  giving  themselves  faithfully  to  cooperation  with 
President  Mann  in  his  high  aims,  became  a  powerful  element 
of  salutary  influence  in  the  school  and  helped  effectually  to 
realize  the  ideal  Antioch  which  Horace  Mann  planned. 

"  When  you    first  came  to  us,  Mr.  ,  I  did  you  the 

honour  of  supposing  you  able  to  appreciate  the  high  aim  with 
which  Antioch  College  was  opened  at  first  and  with  which  we 
were  wishing,  hoping,  striving  to  open  it  in  this  its  second 
career.  I  did  you  the  additional  honour  of  expecting  that 
your  appreciative  sympathy  and  influence, — while  you  con- 
tinued a  student  here, — would  be  with  our  aim  and  our  well- 
meant  effort. 

**  Here  I  would  gladly  lay  down  my  pen.  The  truth  is  not 
pleasant  to  write. 

t(  Mr.  ,  you  might  have  laid  us  under  such  obliga- 
tions to  you  as  words  of  thanks  could  hardly  measure.  You 
could  have  done  us  much  good.  But  we  feel  your  influence 
here  to  have  been  only  a  hinderance  and  a  harm.  There 
were  young  men  here  who,  at  first,  gave  promise  of  excellence. 
Some  of  them  became  unsettled  in  purpose  and  character,  by  a 
baleful  influence  which  it  seems  you  exerted  upon  them. 


^l 

I 


#i 


t 


If 


262    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLV  CRAIG 
"  There  is  not  a  member  of  the  faculty  who  did  not  feel 

"  For  myself  (and  I  write  all  this  not  in  anger  but  in  sorrowl 
I  was  glad  when  you   came  to  us  and  gladder  still  when     sli' 
you  departmg  from  us.  ^^ 

"  I  cannot  but  think  sorrowfully  of  the  good  you  might  have 
done  us  ;_ca„not  but  wish  that  the  future  scenes  an^felations 

actu'aZ    oLTI^  '""^r"  "^"^  ''^PP^  consciousnes?  of  gZ 
actually  conferred  accordmg  to  your  ability." 

To  stop  in  the  midst  of  exacting  toil  when  every  minute 
was  precious  and  every  houi-  waa  crowded  to  burstit.u 
to  wnte  such  a  letter  for  the  only  object  of  so  impressing 
this  young  man  as  eventually  to  make  a  true  man  out  of 
him  -It  was  all  characteristic  of  the  noble  unselfishness 
and  devotion  of  the  man. 

Into  all  the  manifold  activities  of  the  college  life, 

fh':,       \^'^^u^^  "''^^  ^'^^  earnestness  and  enthusiasm 

that  marked  his  relations  to  the  work  of  the  pastorate. 

Possessing  a  keen  sense  of  humour  himself,  he  was  ever 

appreciative  of  it  in  others,  though  he  knew  when  and 

where  to  draw  the  line  as  to  college  fun  as  appeara  from 

his  entry  m  his  letter  book  of  the  copy  of  a  letter  to  one  of 

the  students :     "I  shall  expect  you  to  put  in  my  hands  by 

^ven  o  clock  to-morrow  morning  at  the  latest  the  Society 

Paper  read  by  you  last  evening."    The  college  newspaper 

in  question  had  contained  material  which  was  "  offensive 

to  good  taste,"  resulting  i„  a  faculty  resolution  that  there 

must  thereafter  be  faculty  revision  of  the  paper 

On  the  opposite  page  is  a  copy  of  a  resolution  of  the 
board  of  trustees  "that  no  students  shall  be  permitted 
to  appear  on  the  stage  at  commencement  wearing  the 
Bloomer,  or  other  unusual  style  of  dress  " 

Tie?n'' w"""!f  °^  *^^  ""^^  •'  "^°^"'  *««'  i°  a  letter  to 
Kev.  Dr.  Wise,  the  prominent  Jewish  rabbi  of  Cincinnati, 
carried  in  person  to  Dr.  Wise  by  a  couple  of  Hebrew 


■■if 


II 


,\». 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


263 


students  of  Autiocli  going  ou  a  visit  to  Cincinnati.  In 
the  letter  lie  calls  attention  to  a  brief  interview  he  had 
had  with  Dr.  Wise  in  his  synagogue  and  adds : 

**  I  do  not  speak  by  authority,  but  it  is  my  opinion  that  if 
the  Hebrew  residents  of  your  city  were  disposed  to  endow  a 
Hebrew  professorship  in  Antioch  College  and  fill  it,  they  would 
find  this  college  in  every  way  suitable  to  their  wants  and  ac- 
ceptable to  them.  I  wish,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  would  take  an 
early  opportunity  of  visiting  this  place  and  seeing  for  yourself 
what  our  institution  is.  The  young  men— the  Myers — who 
bring  you  this  note  can  tell  you  much  concerning  our 
school.  .  .  .  We  are  having  at  present  a  very  interesting 
series  of  lectures  by  Prof.  Edward  L.  Youmans  on  '  The 
Unity  of  the  Universe.'  I  would  be  pleased  to  see  you  here 
some  time  and  to  hear  from  you  at  your  convenience." 


In  the  midst  of  the  exacting  toil  of  his  dual  position 
as  president  and  professor,  such  letters  of  cheer  as  came, 
and  there  were  many  of  them,  went  far  towards  lighten- 
ing his  burden.  The  following  from  Dr.  G.  W.  Hosmer, 
one  of  the  board  of  trustees  and  afterwards  president  of 
Antioch,  father  of  Dr.  J.  K.  Hosmer,  the  well-known 
professor,  librarian,  and  author,  illustrates  the  point : 


''Dorchester,  Mass.,  July  ij,  1867, 
"  Dear  Dr.  Craig  : 

"  How  do  you  all  do  at  Antioch  ?  I  should  love  to 
look  in  upon  you.  I  wonder  if  you  are  as  cool  and  comfort- 
able this  Saturday  afternoon  as  I  am.  The  breeze  comes  up 
from  the  sea  upon  these  hills  and  nature  is  as  fresh  and  beauti- 
ful as  in  June.  I  never  saw  so  charming  a  July  in  Massachu- 
setts. I  am  here  with  my  classmate.  Dr.  Jarvis — one  of  my 
homes.  I  am  to  preach  here  to-morrow  in  the  parish  of  old 
Richard  Mather,  the  grandfather  of  Cotton,  who  had  the  rare 
felicity  of  once  having  two  sons  in  the  pulpit  with  him.  In- 
crease, one  of  them,  the  father  of  Cotton,  was  minister  in 
Boston  and  president  of  Harvard  College.  It  is  a  fine  parish. 
Nathaniel  Hall  is  its  minister  and  has  gone  to  England.     There 


)|. 


1. 

ii 


4 


•HB*  f 


:l 


204    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLV  CltAIG 

W<^  ,""•"",  ^"^  ^',"^  ^  ''^^'^  '^^P^'^'  1°  su'^h  these  days' 
Last  bunclay  was  at  Jamaica  Plains.  Last  night  I  spent  t^h 
Mr  Pay  at  Uoburn  ;-he  is  gaining  strength  but  still  Ws  bra  n 
IS  too  sensuive  to  work  hard.  He  introduced  me  to  some  of 
his  wealthy  men  and  he  still  hopes  that  they  will  g^vegener 
ously  to  our  college.  I  an,  to  go  and  ,,reach  for  hin  Sum  lav 
and  am  also  to  visit  Providence.  Have  yon  seen  tl  "^""5; 
which  Mr.  Richmond  has  given  us?  'ticscopt 

"  I  do  not  beg  now  but  try  to  open  the  way  for  next  autumn 

•     J^^^  thini,  of  ruling  in  the  cars  this  morning;  with  a  man 

Ted  it  '  w  ""i"'7,':"  ""  '''''^  ^'^'^  '-^^h^  endow  us  andTot 
feel  It.      W  hy  shouhin't  he  be  robbed  ? 

'*  But  1  hope  we  shall  get  what  we  need,  and  soon  enoimh  tn 

com  "■;;"'r  ?,t'"«-  ''''  ^^•^''■■e  '^^^"^  AntioT  fe^! 
that  we  sj;n„M  7  "^  '°  '"^  ^'  '^  '^e^  considered  it  certain 
that  we  should  be  ]n.t  upon  a  good  foundation. 

Mrs.  1-ay  tells  me  she  shall  not  rest  till  the  chanel  ceiling 
S  h^ld  f":toT.7l-  ',  '"''  ''"  '-^^'^^  ofVetspri'gf 
t^eln  tto^S  w..h"i\  nXar'^"""'"'-     ''"•  ^^^  ^'"  "^^^ 

Deerfieirwi,h'\°,  '  Y'  ^^''-  f^"^™"  »"''  ^'^^^  Kendall  at 
v^s.t  on  to  nf  r  '•  ■''"'"'  ""''  '^'  grandboy.  Our  Buffalo 
visit  on  top  of  Commencement  week  was  very  damaeine  to  our 

wrek^Mrs^Ho"'""  'T,''  ""'"'"-''  ''"-'  -s'delightft,^  '  Ne" 

and  of  bLs  on  I  .^^  T"n  ""'"""^  Cambridge  this  week, 
six  ve° rs  wi  ^no  ll  '"^"^^^y' ,^'«bi"g  Greek  and  Latin 
SIX  years  with  no  look  at  nature  or  the  world  and  life  of  to-dav  ' 

ling  sutnce,  as  Mr.  Orton  does,  with  classics. 

nell  I  am'.HH 'tn  h^'  ''T'^'  '°  ^'"-  ^''"''S'     ^ell  Mr.  McCon- 
Miach'seis       ''"  '^  '""^  ^  '^^^  '''  '°  ^^^^  -°--  ^om 

"Ever  and  truly  yours, 

^*G.   W.  HOSMER." 

tion,  1)1  Craig  failed  out  the  time  he  had  allotted  two 
y-'^  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  presented  his  i2g^ 
tion  which  was  with  reluctance  accepted  by  the  trusteea 


I 


AXTIOCH  UNDER  BR.  CRAIG 


265 


The  followiiii^^  letter  was  received  by  Dr.  Craig  in  re- 
spouse  : 

^'Antioch  College,  Yellow  Springs,  OhiOy  June  24, 1868, 

'*  My  dear  Dr.  Ckaig  : 

*'  I  laid  your  communication  before  the  board  of  trustees 
yesterday  and  it  was  considered  with  earnest  and  painful  feel- 
ing; all  agreed  in  refusing  to  accept  your  final  resignation ; 
and  i  think  not  one  was  willing  to  entertain  the  proposition  of 
indefinite  leave  of  absence.  The  vote  was  unanimous,  that 
leave  of  absence  for  one  year  should  be  granted  you,  your 
chair  to  remain  vacant,  and  you  still  to  be  Bellows  Professor  ; 
and  that  we  all  make  every  possible  effort  to  gather  students 
and  increase  available  means  so  that  we  can  welcome  you  back 
to  your  place  among  us  as  soon  as  possible. 

*'  Meantime  our  love  and  veneration  rest  upon  you.  May 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  brother.  Personally,  I  feel  bound  to 
you.     I  thank  you  for  your  generous,  noble  friendship. 

"  With  affectionate  regards, 

**  Ever  truly  your  friend, 

**G.   W.   HOSMER." 


But  the  large  field  of  the  Biblical  Institute  lay  before 
him  aud  however  great  the  desire  to  have  him  remain  at 
Antioch,  he  knew  in  which  direction  duty  lay.  And 
duty  to  this  man  always  lay  in  the  direction  of  the 
largest  possible  service  to  his  fellow  men. 

Dr.  Craig  put  into  his  work  at  Antioch  all  the  resources 
of  his  rich  store.  It  was  so  in  whatever  he  did,— he 
must  ever  give  and  give  his  best  in  largest  measure. 

"My  teaching- work,"  he  wrote  in  May,  1868,  ''is  a  bread- 
and-butter  calling  ;  yet,  in  some  respects,  it  has  been  nearly  akin 
to  the  teaching-work  of  the  Christian  ministry.  During  the  year 
I  have  given  about  120  lessons  and  lectures  in  Logic  and 
Metaphysics,  tracing  the  laws  of  thought  and  the  course  of 
human  thinking,  so  seeking  in  ancient  and  modern  schools  a 
criterion  of  the  Truth  and  the  feeling  after  the  True  One.  I 
have  also  given  about  1 25  lessons  and  lectures  in  History,  giv- 


i  i 


t 


I 


H 


I 


266     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

ing  particular  study  in  trying  to  trace  the  finger  of  God  in  the 
course  of  human  events.  The  conflict  of  Christianity  with 
Paganism,  the  Rise  and  Growth  of  the  Papal  Power,  the  for- 
tunes of  the  Oriental  and  E:astern  churches,  the  career  of 
Mahometanism,  the  modern  Re-awakening  of  the  Human  Mind 
the  Protestant  Reformation,— these  were  subjects  brought  into 
prominence  and  considered  fairly,  as  I  trust  to  say,  and  under 
a  Christian  point  of  view. 

"  Several  lectures  were  given  on  the  historical  testimonies  of 
the  ancient  writers  as  to  the  leading  facts  of  the  gospel  narra- 
tive; also  on  the  transmission  of  ancient  books  to  our  times  I 
gave  to  a  volunteer  class  about  twenty  lectures  on  the  Geography 
of  Palestine  and  the  History  of  the  Hebrew  Patriarchs,  and  to 
another  volunteer  class  I  gave  instruction  twice  a  week  in  the 
Hebrew  language. 

"Besides  these  instructiens  which  were  all  in  Antioch  Col- 
lege, I  gave  a  short  course  of  lectures  on  the  Providential  His- 
tory of  the  World  to  the  students  in  the  Wilberforce  University 
at  Xenia,  Ohio." 


In  addition  to  all  this  he  delivered  frequent  sermons 
without  charge  to  poor  and  struggling  cliurclies  without 
pastors. 

Before  passing;  from  the  work  of  Dr.  Craig,  at  Antioch, 
it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  give  the  subjoined  some- 
what intimate  view  of  Antioch  printed  in  the  Westmhisfer 
Review,  x\merican  Edition  of  October,  1868.  The  name 
of  the  author  of  the  article  is  not  given,  but  he  states  that 
he  had  long  l)een  in  intimate  touch  with  Antioch  affairs. 
After  recounting  the  initial  work  of  Horace  Mann  in  the 
development  of  the  college  on  co-educational  lines,  not- 
ing Mr.  >rann\s  testimony  as  to  the  wholly  sjitisfactory 
result  (-oming  from  this  first  test  in  the  world  of  the 
fejLsibility  of  educating  young  men  and  women  side  by 
side,  the  writer  speaks  of  his  familiarity  with  the 
University  of  Virginia,  with  Harvard  and  with  some  of 
the  English  universities,  giving  it  as  his  conviction  that 
'*in  none  of  these  male  institutions  can  there  be  found 


.L 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


267 


anything  comparable  to  the  moral  elevation,  the  refine- 
ment, or  the  intellectual  enthusiasm  which  characterize 
the  students  of  Antioch.'' 
Continuing  he  says : 

**In  our  estimate  male  students  were  first  called  gentlemen 
at  Antioch.  The  young  men  were  none  the  less  chivalrous  be- 
cause they  did  not  drink  or  smoke ;  while  their  personal  neat- 
ness, courtesy  and  delicacy  of  behaviour,  showed  that  under 
the  refining  influence  around  them  a  certain  manliness,  very 
rare  in  college  students,  had  appeared  in  their  characters. 
The  college  had  the  grace  of  a  refined  household.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  finest  and  most  womanly  traits  were  visible  in 
the  young  women.  During  the  seven  years  of  the  present 
writer's  intimacy  with  Antioch  College,  he  at  no  time  knew  or 
heard  of  any  scandal  in  connection  with  any  student  in  it,  and, 
in  short,  through  personal  observation  of  that  and  other 
co-educational  institutions  in  the  United  States,  we  have  be- 
come convinced  that  the  purification  and  elevation  of  the 
educational  systems  of  the  world  are  to  be  wrought  by  carry- 
ing into  them  that  influence  which  has  never  failed  to  civilize 
and  refine  wherever  it  has  gone, — the  influence  of  woman." 

Interesting  also  is  it  to  note  that  at  Antioch,  in  addi- 
tion to  its  other  innovations,  was  first  introduced  in  a 
college  course  the  teaching  of  physiology  and  hygiene,  as 
it  was  also  the  first  regularly  established  college  to  in- 
corporate into  its  curriculum  the  theory  and  practice  of 
teaching. 

Following  is  a  sketch  of  Antioch  College  from  the  pen 
of  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  a  trustee  of  Antioch  and 
one  of  her  staunchest  friends  and  supporters.  This  sketch 
was  written  by  Dr.  Hale  for  this  volume. 

Antioch  College  and  Dr.  Craig 

**  I  have  the  most  pleasant  memories  of  Dr.  Austin  Craig,  as 
I  have  the  greatest  respect  for  his  distinguished  services.  I  was 
first  acquainted  with  him  in  the  year  1864,  when  he  was  living 


it. 

i 


268    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CIUIG 

have  a  cordial  note  from  him  writ  e,  in  th^^  '  f"'"''^-     ^ 

visit  him  at  Blooming  Grove      I  canno   fi^if' ■^''""S  "'^ '° 
removed  to  Yellow  Springs  '"  ""'^  "'>«»  ^e 

"Antioch  College  had  been  founded  l,v  il,»  nu  ■    ■ 
nomination  in  the  year  18^0      <<  iTv  H.. ^  ^  Christian  de- 
college,  which  should  om^no  from  ^,h.    .™'"^'^  '^  "'^'^•'"sh  a 
Western  country,  if  not  [^'  h*^  Ced  St^^el'  "T"''  '", '"" 
not  only  that  education  should  be   horonl  !'  ^^   7  u'''°'^'^ 
universal,  and  to  this  end  they  embS  jn  t1    •'^'''  ^'  "'^° 
academic   education,  young  womeT  as  wel^^  1 "'  ''^"^' °^ 
They  resolved  on  knowing  no  morr  Hic^-     .•  '   -^"""S   "'en. 
than  in  religion."  ^  distinction  in  education 

saysft'ht'trustel°  ff  An'tLc^h^'rlll'  °"''  ,f "f  .^'^"""  Pf°^«b 
its  first  president.     H  "    as  a^e  HS^'  .°""  ^^'""  '"'^^ 

education.  He  ha.l  bJen  the  firs, ^""6""'^''.'  "^  "  '^^^^^ "' 
tion  in  the  state  of  Mass  chus  Jf  ,  Superintendent  of  Educa- 
the  first  person  to  fil  anv  smI  „«'  ^"'^  ^at  means  that  he  was 
had  served  eleven  veas  in  H-  '"  ""^  ^"''^'^  States.     He 

Congress,  wherl^he^:,"  'ourTarf '  ?."V^"  "j"'  ''^'  '° 
the  trustees  of  Antior  h  rv.ii  '°"^.>^^^s-.  J"  September,  18^2, 
.ion  by  oirering1r£i^"S£;"8u.shed  their  new  instil: 

which  l^Tfirfi^StuZ"'?  '^^  very  difficult  task, 
plans,  and  removed  'o  Ye  low  Snril  '■°'^.  and  generous  in  its 
his  death.  He  save  tn,hT  "^  ,f '  '"^"^  ^^  remained  till 
has  never  lo"  f^he  tauSt  t^  '°"'^'  '  ^^P"*^"""  "hich  i 
closely  allied  with  the  Sat  LTT"""^'  "''^'  "^  ^^°^k  was 
education.  ^  ^''^  "''"°"^'  system  of  free  public 

professor  of  Greek.  '  In  Feb?u'  rs'f '~''  f^^P'^'"  ''"^ 
in  eastern  New  York  Mr  m  7'  ^2.  on  a  lecturing  tour 
then  a  young  clemvmin  J  ^"•''u'"  ""'  ^^v.  Austin  Craig, 
his  whole  I.  7iTJ7^2T^^'  y^"'  °f  ^g<=.  "ith  whom 
loved  as  a  younger  brother  '"^^  """"^'^^"'^   ^""^  ^^'hom  he 

'  Henry  W.  Bellows. 


ANTIOCH  UXDER  DR.  CRAIG 


269 


"Antioch  College  had  erected  three  admirable  buildings  at 
very  considerable  cost.  Few  colleges  in  the  country  could  at 
that  time  boast  such  a  building  as  the  college  proper.  There 
was  a  large  dormitory  for  men,  and  another  for  women,  provid- 
ing larger  accommodations  for  the  residence  of  students  than 
Harvard  College  had  at  that  time.  An  elegant  campus  was 
laid  out  for  the  students,  and  a  large  and  convenient  house  was 
built  for  the  president.  All  this  required  money,  and  the  most 
of  this  money  had  been  raised  by  loyal  subscriptions  from  the 
congregations  of  the  Christian  denomination.  Tiie  promise 
had  been  made  to  all  subscribers  that  if  any  person  subscribed 
one  hundred  dollars,  he  should  be  permitted  to  name  a  student 
who  might  go  through  his  course  without  other  charge.  And 
this  privilege  was  not  to  end  with  the  death  of  the  contributor, 
but  was  to  extend  generation  after  generation,  to  his  descend- 
ants or  assigns. 

''From  this  unfortunate  provision,  it  befell  that  while  from  the 
very  first  Antioch  College  had  always  a  large   assembly  of 
students,  it  had  almost  no  income.     The  dormitories  were  full 
the  instruction  was  admirable,  the  esprit  de  corps  was  well-nigh 
perfect,   but  from  year  to  year  there  was  almost  nothing  re- 
ceived  in  the  treasury.     The  corporation  which  founded  the 
college  had  assumed  obligations  which  it  could  not  discharge 
Not  unnaturally  the  founders  of  the  college  and  the  friends  of 
Air.  Mann  in  New  England  appealed  to  a  larger  public  to  pro- 
vide permanent  funds  for  carrying  out  the  magnificent  purpose 
which  they  had  in  hand.     At  that  time,  every  college  west  of 
New  England  with  the  single  exception  of  Antioch  College  was 
under  the  control  of  some  ecclesiastical  body.     Even  what  were 
called  the  State  Universities  would  receive  no  teacher  or  pro- 
fessor who  was   not  considered  sound  in  old  fashioned  ortho- 
doxy.    An  appeal  was  therefore  made  to  the  Unitarian  Church 
to  come  to  the  rescue  of  an  institution  which  had  opened  its 
doors  with  such  courage  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  and 
women. 

"  The  trustees  of  the  college  found  it  more  and  more  difficult 
every  year  to  provide  for  the  annual  expenses  by  other  means 
than  the  money  obtained  from  the  tuition  fees  of  the  students 
Iherefore,  the  trustees  under  the  original  charter  proposed 
that  if  a  new  corporation  could  be  formed  ready  to  carry  on 
the  college  on  a  generous  scale  without  the  incumbrance  which 
Had  been  carelessly  assumed,  not  understanding  its  results,  they 


270    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIX  CRAIG 


were  willing  to  make  such  transfer.  When  this  offer  was  well 
understood,  the  American  Unitarian  Association  held  a  meet- 
ing, ever  memorable  to  the  friends  of  Aniioch  College,  in  Hollis 
Street  Church,  Boston,  in  December,  1864,  and  voted  that  it 
would  raise  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  endowment  of 
Antioch  College,  if  it  could  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  new 
corporation.  This  sum  was  collected  by  the  committee  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose,  of  which  I  was  the  chairman.  The 
committee  met  the  trustees  of  the  old  corporation  in  1865,  and 
with  utter  cordiality  on  both  sides,  a  new  corporation  was 
formed,  called  Antioch  College  of  Yellow  Springs. 

•^  The  hope  and  plan  of  all  the  leaders,  both  of  the  Christians 
and  Unitarians,  was  the  appointment  to  the  presidency  of  the 
college,  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  Horace  Mann,  of  some  dis- 
tinguished civilian  whose  name  was  publicly  connected  with 
education  throughout  the  country.  For  a  year  or  two  the 
trustees  were  in  hopes  of  carrymg  out  this  plan,  and  no  one 
was  more  eager  in  this  than  Dr.  Craig,  as  may  be  seen  from 
his  letters.  General  Garfield  was  one  of  the  persons  ap- 
proached by  the  trustees.  Dr.  Craig  was  entrusted  with  the 
correspondence  with  him.  He  declined,  however.  It  was 
then  determined  unanimously  that  Hon.  John  A.  Andrew,  the 
War  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  should  be  invited.  In  this 
invitation  the  trustees  had  the  cooperation  of  his  nearest  friends, 
who  thought  that  if  His  Honour  could  be  transferred  to  Ohio, 
his  deserved  influence  throughout  the  country  would  be  greatly 
enlarged.  Writing  to  me  on  this  subject,  Dr.  Craig  said,  *I 
was  yesterday  told  that  Governor  Andrew  is  to  preside  at 
Antioch.  I  hold  my  breath  a  little,  fearing  to  shake  the  state- 
ment loose  from  the  fact  on  which  I  hope  it  is  built.' 

**  These  negotiations,  however,  were  futile,  and  the  trustees 
unanimously  appointed  Dr.  Craig  as  president  of  the 
college,  he  having  agreed  to  take  the  presidency  only  as  a 
temporary  appointment,  as  he  had  promised  to  accept  the 
presidency  of  the  Christian  Biblical  Institute  when  its  doors 
should  be  ready  to  open.  Almost  of  course  he  so  endeared 
himself  at  the  college  to  the  students,  the  teachers,  and  the 
whole  community,  that  it  was  with  great  regret  that  at  the 
time  he  had  himself  fixed  a  new  appointment  was  made.  To  him 
is  due  the  great  credit  of  the  immediate  success  under  the  new 
administration.  His  duty  was  so  successfully  discharged  that 
I  tlunk  he  did   not  regret  his  loyal  acceptance  of  the  charge. 


ANTIOCH  UNDER  DR.  CRAIG 


271 


He  retired  from  the  presidency  blessed  with  the  love  and  good 
wishes  of  all  who  knew  him.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  Know- 
ing that  he  had  recalled  to  the  number  of  its  friends,  many 
who  had  been  somewhat  alienated  from  the  college  by  its 
misfortunes.  He  carried  with  him  to  his  new  post  of  duty  the 
respect  and  love  of  all  with  whom  he  had  had  to  do. 

"  Edward  Everett  Hale. 
''  Roxbury^  Mass.,  June  18,  igo6:' 


XIV 

A  LETTER  FROM   A   MAN'S  HEART 

WE  may  pause  at  this  moment  long  enough  to 
consider  a  letter  written  by  Dr.  Craig  out  of 
the  fullness  of  his  heart,  a  pointed,  searching 
letter,  and  yet  without  bitterness.  Again  and  again 
throughout  his  career,  jealous  men,  envious  men,  ignorant 
men,  attacked  him,— by  innuendo  chielly,  in  (he  open 
seldom.  He  maintained  the  same  gentle  silence  that  ever 
characterized  his  attitude  to  such  people  unless  some 
vital  principle  wius  at  stake,  some  truth  so  violated  that,  un- 
less  made  clear  by  the  real  facts,  untoward  results  might 
follow.  It  was  his  fiishion  in  such  a  case  to  write,  or 
speak,  with  great  plainness.  To  the  hearts  of  those  who 
falsely  accused  him  his  letter,  or  his  spoken  word,  not 
only  carried  conviction  but  bore  the  noble  weight  of 
truth,  crushing  the  lalsehood,  open  or  implied,  to  its 
death.  And  yet  love  was  master  of  this  man,  even  when 
he  came  close  to  a  solemn  sternness. 

The  letter  written  while  he  was  yet  at  Antioch  just 
before  his  acceptance  of  the  call  to  Kew  Bedford,  is  as 
follows : 


44 


"Dear  Brother  Ko^I"""  ^^'-''"''-  ^''"' J"'y  ^3,  1S67. 

T  1^  y°"^  welcome  letter  of  June  19th  came  duly  to  hand. 
1  would  have  taken  the  time  to  answer  it  immediately  ral- 
though  we  were  in  the  midst  of  *  Commencement  '  services 
and  scenes— when  it  came),  only  that  I  had  a  few  days  before 
sent  you  a  note  givmg  you  such  suggestions  '  about  the  dis- 
position of  the  manuscript  letter/    as   your   postscript  seems 

272 


A  LETTEll  FlIOM  A  MAN'S  HEAET      273 

especially  to  require.-Hoping  that  you  received  that  note 
and  found  its  suggestions  satisfactory,  I  now  use  my  earhest 
good  opportunity  to  reply  to  a  few  points  presented  in  your 

-  1  find  this  letter  beginning  naturally,  just  as  my  '  manu- 
script letter  began  ;_beginning,  namely,  with  a  reference  to 
my  own  pecuniary  circumstances.  In  that  •  manuscript  letter  ' 
I  Nvas  moved  to  say  a  few  words  concerning  the  financial  re- 
suhs  of  my  ministerial  life,  in  order  that  you  might  see  whv  I 
had  ventured  to  write  concerning  the  Biblical  School,  after  vou 
had  publicly  expressed  your  wish  that  no  one  would  write  for 
It  *  without  giving.' 

"  What  now  calls  me  back  to  the  same  subject— of  mv  own 
pecuniary  circumstances-is  the  following  paragraph  in  your 
letter,  which  I  will  copy  here  in  full  :—  ^      »    r         / 

"  '  Now,  Brother  Craig,  you  have  been  some  time  ministering 
to  an  independent  church,  not  specially  of  the  *^  Christian  Con 
nexion,      and  who  are  reputed  rich,  and  proverbially  liberal 
and  to  the   now,  richly  endowed  Antioch  and  Meadville :   iust 
give  us  a  liberal  donation  for  the  Biblical  School,  then  publish 
or  have  published,  your  recent  letter  to  me,  and  then  you  mav 
pray,  and  preach,  and  write  for  our  school  all  you  please,  and 
the  gift  wil    so  sanctify  the  advice,  that  we  will  be  likelv  to 
give  It  a  patient  hearing.'  ^ 

"  I  answer  (i),  as  to  the  publishing  of  my  '  recent  letter '  to 
you  1  will  take  no  step  whatever  in  regard  to  that  If  the 
bret  ren  of  the  Conference  before  whom  it'was  read  choose  to 
publLsh  it-or  any  part  of  it  (as  has  been  intimated),  they 
may  do  so.  In  that  case  the  •  patient  hearing '  will  be  far 
more  likely  to  come  from  the  regard  due  to  the  liberal  Con- 
n^Zv^'.f  '"^^"'^  request  the  private  communication  is  made 
public,  than  from  any  'liberal  donation'  given  by  the  in- 
<lividual  who  wrote  the  letter.  ^ 

S-^T  !l^'  ^"^  ^Z"^-^^'  ^  ^"^'^^^  ^^  yo"r  paragraph— above 
copied-that  It  is  based  upon  misapprehension  of  facts.  Let 
me  speak  of  myself  to  you  freely. 

'M  vvas  not  in  my  youth  trained  to  any  handicraft  by  which 
Ln^f^f'  ^vere,  gain  my  bread.     I  was  kept  at  school 

ZuL  ""7  IT'  ''"^'^  ^  '^^''  '^y^  ^^^"ty-  Of  some  of  my 
schooling   I   did   not  see  the  use  at  the  time.     I  think  it  has 

nelped  me  to  serve  more  efficiently  than  I  otherwise  could  what 

nas  seemed  to  be  my  calling  among  men.     My  attention  was 


<i 


2U    LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  AU8TIN  CRAIG 

turned  to  the  iiiinistry  in  my  Libt  year  at  school  (1843).  [ 
began  to  preach  in  that  year,  here  and  there,  as  occasion 
offered.  In  May,  1844,  I  was  adniittetl  a  member  of  liie  New 
Jersey  Christian  Conterence,  with  which  body  1  have  held  my 
membership  ever  since.  1  was  admitted  as  a  'licentiate.' 
The  year  following,  1  was  ordained  in  jiursuanc  e  of  a  vote  of 
the  Conference  passed  at  its  spring  session  in  1845. 

"  In  the  years  1843,  '44  ^"<^  '46*  ^  preat  hed  as  often  as 
opportunity  was  afforded  me,  a  Sunday  here,  an  evening  there, 
in  church,  school  house,  or  dwelling,  as  the  call  happened  to 
come  to  me.  Most  of  my  preaching  was  with  brethren — 
ministers  of  the  New  Jersey  Christian  Conference.  I  was 
engaged  thus  whenever  1  had  a  call ; — quite  frequently  at 
limes ;  then  again,  for  intervals,  at  home  studying.  I  sought 
no  charge — no  pastoral  charge,  as  1  felt  myself  too  inexperienced 
for  that.  Nor  diti  I  seek  compensation  for  my  preaching.  I 
considered  n)y  experience  compensation ;  and  was  glad  when- 
ever brethren  would  give  me  an  opportunity  to  preach  in  their 
churches,  or  in  schoolhouses.  I  don't  remeniber  to  have  re- 
ceived anything — not  even  a  dollar — for  my  preaching  during 
the  first  two  years  of  my  ministry.  I  am  sure  that  all  I  re- 
ceived during  the  hr^i  four  years  of  my  ministry  (say  to  the 
close  of  1846)  would  not  pay  my  expenses  of  study  for  the  five 
months — January  to  May,  1846— which  I  spent  at  Easton, 
Pennsylvania,  learning  Hebrew. 

"In  July,  '46,  I  began  to  preach  more  frequently ;  went 
through  most  of  the  churches  in  New  Jersey,  from  north  to 
south.  We  had  a  sort  of  travelling  college — as  we  called  it. 
Elder  B.  F.  Summerbell  of  your  Conference  remembers  it,  I 
dare  say.  With  him  I  rode  from  Northern  New  Jersey  to  the 
Wyoming  Valley,  in  Pennsylvania,  going  and  returning,  and 
preaching  on  the  way.  Elder  C.  W.  Havens,  also  of  your 
Conference,  will  remember  those  times.  As  does  Elder 
N.  Summerbell,  Elder  Isaac  C.  Goff,  and  others.  I  visited 
and  preached  to  about  twenty  churches  in  New  Jersey,  and  on 
the  Pennsylvania  border.  To  some  of  these  churches  my 
visits  were  repeated,  again  and  again.  But,  as  I  now  re- 
member, I  received  no  money — not  even  expenses  of  travel — 
for  these  preachings.  With  the  beginning  of  the  year  1848 
(rather  in  December,  1847)  I  had  my  first  permanent  charge 
(permanent  in  a  qualified  sense).  I  went  to  Feltville,  N.  J., 
to  preach  for  the  winter.     I  stayed  until  April  17th  next  (four 


A  LETTER  FROxM  A  MAN'S  HEART      275 

months  and   a  half).      I  preached  every  Sunday  and  taught 
the  district  school  one  quarter.     For  my  three  months'  teach- 
nig  and  the  four  and  a  half  months'  preaching,  I  received  my 
board  and   $58^     That   was  all.     My  next  ministerial  service 
was   with   the   Pearl   Street    Church   in    Fall  River,  Mass      I 
stayed  there  from  April  22d  to  August  6th  (1848),  about  three 
months   and  a   half;   preaching  three  times  each  Sunday      I 
received  there  my  board  and  ^50.00.     Returning  to  my  home 
in  Peapack,  N.  J.,  I  continued  as  formerly,  to  welcome  invita- 
tions to  preach  in  the  New  Jersey  churches,  without  charge- 
without  price.     In  October  of  this  year  (I  think  it  was)  I  made 
a  visit  of  a  few  weeks  to  Elder  C.  W.  Havens,  then  at  Stephen- 
town,  N.  Y.,  and  preached  frequently  there.     I  think  my  ex- 
penses of  journeying  to  and  from  the  place  were  paid      From 
April   15th  to   August    19th   (1849)  I  lived  in  the  family  of 
fc. .  er  Isaac  C.  Goff  at  Camptown  (now  Irvington)  New  Jersey. 
Ll.ler  Goff  was  at  that  time  unable  to  preach,  and  I  was  his 
bupply.      For  these  four  months'  preaching    I  received  my 
board  and   I   believe   $67.50.     It  was  enough.     Then,  I   re- 
turned home  again,  to  study  and  to  use  opportunities  for  oc- 
casional   service,    here   and  there,  as  before.     From  January 
i2ih  to  February  i8th  (1850)  I  was  on  a  visit  to  the  church  at 
Lewisburg  in  Pennsylvania.     I  preached  thirty-four  times  dur- 
ing my  visit  there,  and  received  $16  (which  nearly  paid  my 
expenses  of  journeying),   and,  also,   a  good,    new  cloth  coat 
My   first  real    'settlement'    with   a  society  was  in  May.  i8qo 
I  was  invited  to  return  to  Feltville,  N.  J.  ;   went  thither  and  re- 
mained  ten  months,    to  the  end  of  March,  185 1.     For  these 
ten  months  of  service  I  received  my  board  and  $250.     A  large 
portion  of  this  sum  I    expended  in  printing  a  series  of  '  Oc- 
casional   Iracts,;  which  about  this  time  I  was  led  to  publish. 
I  he  general  subject  was  Christian  Union.     Whether  any  good 
came  of  my  tract  enterprise,    I  cannot  tell.     I  did  not  under- 
take it   to  make  money.      What  I    sold    I   sold  at  cost-very 

ww.^;u^"k    ^^""^  ^""^"^  '^"^^'^^  thousands  of  copies-I  believe. 
With  the  beginning  of  April,  1851,  I  entered  upon  my  pastoral 

County^N   v''  h'^^'^'k^   ""^^^  congregation,    iif  'orangi 

hich  I  had  been  known  as  a  preacher,  my  entire  receipts  for 
P  eaching  had  not  (I  believe)  exceeded  the  sum  of  $500.00, 
which  sum  (  I  presume)  I  had  nearly  expended,  during  those 
years,   for  my  instruction  in  Hebrew— above  mentioned— for 


276     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIX  CRAIG 

books  and  in  i^ublishing  tracts.  I  do  not  set  down  these 
I)articulars  to  complain  of  tfie.n.  I  considered  that  I  was 
acquiring  my  nunistcrial  education  in  these  eight  years  •  and 
my  real  compensation  for  my  work  was  the  experience  and 
enlargement  which  the  work  brought  me. 

"In  April,  185 1,  I  removed  to  Blooming  Grove,  N  Y  where 
(with  the  exception  of  three  intervals  of  absence  at  '  Antioch  ' 
and  in  New  Orleans, -amounting  in  all  to  eighteen  or  twenty 
months;  1  remained  as  pastor  until  September  4,  i86q  At 
Blooming  Grove  my  salary,  up  to  1859,  was  $600  per  annum 
(vv.th  the  use  of  the  parsonage).  I  doubt  whether  this  sum  at 
Bbonung  Grove  could  be  n.ade  '  to  go  so  far  '  as  the  same  sum 
would  go  m  your  place.  Blooming  Grove  was  in  direct  dailv 
cx)mmumcation  with  New  York  City,  and  so  near  to  the  city 
that  city  prices  ruled  in  our  markets.  The  i)rice  of  fire-wood 
also,  on  account  of  the  great  demand   made  by  the  raihoads 

H  ith  you.  I  think  I  never  paid  less,  in  the  cheaper  times,  than 
fie  dollars  a  core  for  hickory  wood  ;  afterwards  it  rose  to  eight 
^ollars.  1  he  eighteen  or  twenty  months  that  I  was  away  from 
Blooming  Grove  perhaps  i)aid  my  actual  exi)enses  for  the  period 
of  absence  I  hey  added  nothing,  1  think,  to  my  resources 
i'rom  April,  1851,  onward  to  the  close  of  '58,  I  had,  out  of  mv 
salary,  saved  enough  to  make  considerable  additions  to  mv 
ibrary,  and  to  commence  housekeeping.  I  suppose  1  have  put 
into  my  library,  first  and  last,  not  far  from  two  thousand  dollars 

dred  and  fifty-nine  found  me  established  as  a  housekeeper  with 
my   ittle  saved  money  put  into  household  goods  and  furniture 
At  this  time  also  my  salary  was  increased  from  56oo  to  S800 
per  anmim;  though  about  a  year  later  it  practically  became 
.S700,  by  my  remitting  Sioo   annually  on  condition  of  being 
allowed  six  weeks'  '  vacation  '  in  summer.      I  was  not  quite  ou^ 
of  the   httle  debt  which  the  commencement  of  housekeeping 
threw  upon   me  when   the  war  began,  and  that  expansion   of 
prices  commenced  which  bore  so  heavily  on  salaried  men.     It 
was  not  long  before  the  purchasing  capacity  of  $700  fell  a  hun- 
dred per  cent.      I  could  not  live  within  my  salary      Next  vear 
TmhiW  io  '  '"^  '^''  ^"'^•^  ^"'^"^""^-      ^^eanwhile  I  had  safd 
mth   ^enH   ""Z^'^'aTT  ^    u^J""^^  '^'^'  '^'^  "^-^^^^"^1  trouble 

wcU^as  other?'  r".  /''''"^',  '^^^  ^  ^"^^^^^  ^«  ^^^'  ^>"^^'-"«  ^s 
well  as  others.     But  I  was  already  several  hundreds  of  dollars 


A  LETTER  FROM  A  MAN'S  HEAET      277 

in  debt,  with  no  prospect  of  imi)rovement  near  at  hand.     I 
then  told  my  congregation  how  affairs  were  with  me,  and  said 
that   I  would   be  compelled  to  seek  more  means  somewhere. 
They  immediately  voted  to  add  ^500  annually  to  my  salary, 
and  to  give  a  donation  visit,  which  in  various  ways  brought  us 
in  nearly  ;$40o  more  for  that  year.     But,  in  making  that  com- 
munication to  the  people,  I  felt  no  longer  free  to  remain  with 
them.     It  may  have  been  a  matter  of  feelhig  only  ;  but  I  could 
not  stay,  and  did  stay  only  ten  months,— until  the  beginning 
of  September,    1865,  when    I    removed    to   this  place.     The 
Blooming  Grove  people  were,  as  you  wrote  in  the  paragraph 
copied  above,  'reputed  rich  and  proverbially  liberal.'     That 
liberality  I  cultivated  for  others.     The  church  collections  for 
purely  foreign  objects  amounted  in  one  year  that  I  now  remem- 
ber to  nearly  $500  (speaking  roundly).     I  frequently  gave  as 
much  as  any  one,  and  urge(i  the  duty  of  giving.     But  for  my- 
self I  never  spoke  one  word  in  the  pulpit,  and  never  preached 
on  the  duty  of  congregations  to  see  that  they  who  preach  the 
Gospel  'live  by  the  Gospel.'     For  that  reason,  I  suppose,  the 
liberality  of  the  congregation  did  not  reach  me  until  it  became 
necessary  to  say  to  them   that  I  could  not  live  on  the  salary 
paid  me.     And  when  I  had  to  say  that,  I  felt  myself  no  longer 
at  liberty  to  stay  with  the  people.     They  are  a  liberal  people, 
as  you  say,  and   perhaps  I  did  not  well  in  keeping  silence  so 
long  concerning  my  necessities.     Their  liberality  has  abounded, 
as  I  am  very  happy  to  learn,  towards  their  present  pastor.     I 
have  only  words  of  praise  and  love  when  speaking  of  that  ex- 
cellent congregation.     I  mention  these  particulars  to  show  you 
how  mistaken  is  your  inference— your  apparent  impression  con- 
cerning my  financial  ability,  as   derived  from  the  fact  that  I 
'  have  been  some  time  ministering  '  to  a  church  '  rich  and  pro- 
verbially liberal.'     The  fact  is  that  on  leaving  Blooming  Grove 
to  settle  in  this  place,  in  September,  1865,  I  brought  with  me  a 
debt  of  several  hundreds  of  dollars,  which  had  grown  upon  me 
during  the  years  of  the  war.     And  the  other  statement  made 
by  you,  with  its  implied  inference,  that  I  have  for  some  time 
also  been  in  the  service  of  '  the  now  richly  endowed  Andoch, 
and  Meadville,'  seems  quite  a  different  kind  of  fact  to  me  from 
what  I  think  it  seems  to  you,  for  counting  in  the  expenses  of 
removal   hither  and   re-settlement  in  Yellow  Springs,  I  cannot 
reasonably  hope  to  be  as  well  off,  pecuniarily,  at  the  beginning 
of  September,  1867,  as  I  was  September,  1865,  when  I  removed 


^_^Vi 


278    LIFE  Ax\D  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

from  Blooming  Grove  to  Yellow  Springs.  My  service  to  the 
nchly  endowed  •  Mead ville,'_do  you  suppose^tl>at  I  recdve  a 
Urge  saary  there?  Last  year  I  received  not  a  dollar  from 
Meadville;  the  year  before,  for  fourteen  lectures  delivered 
m  December,  ij.h  to  27th,  I  »vas  paid  fifty  dollars.  My 
first  teachmg  service  at  Meadville  was  in  October  ,86: 
my  clear   receipts    (after  deducting  expenses  of  traveH  wer^ 

a     i-rolessor     m  the  'richly  endowed'  MeadvSle   un  to  ih^ 

nent  ^  V  """'"^'^  J"''  seventy-three  dollars  over  my  ex' 
alo"  e  ;ave,°l!.'/?"''  ""^^1"^'"''"'^^  with  these  detailed  facts 
alone  saves  me  from  suspecting  you  of  a  grim  joke  in  vour 
paragraph  where  you  intimate  my  ability  to  give  you  -alibera 
donation  for  the  Biblical  Schoolf'  because  /have  'been tm 
tme  ministering  •  to  a  'rich  and  proverbially  liberal '  churcT 
and  to  '  the  now  richly  endowed  Antioch  and  Meadville  •' 

it  see  r't  r.^  n"'  "r  '  ^T'K  ''  * '  '5°°  P^^  ='"""™-     I  know 

that   theP^L   n  "  ^  '"  ■"conveniently  small  sum.     ]  know 
Uiat   the   S800   per  annum  which  professors  were  paid  here  a 
dozen  years  ago  was  a  larger  sum  (relatively)  than  $.,500  >ow 
For  myself,  it  ,s  just  possible  that  by  living  closely  here  1  tniph 
tn  three  or  four  years  be  able  to  save  enough  ,0  pm  me  oS 
debt      At   present,  the  best  I  can  say  to  those  who  ask  me  for 

to  Elde'r  h""^."'"^'"  ''"y  enterprise  is  what  1  said  recemj 
to  Elder  Heath,  who  asked  me  for  a  gift  of  Jcoo  for  '  Union 
Christian   College.'     I   told   Brother  Heath  that,  if  he  w3d 

nrclesTalu'e^  T'^  ^'''''  I'  V  ''''"'^)  ^^^  sime  person 
articles  valued  by  us  as  gifts,  I  would  surrender  to  him  every 

dollar  s  worth  of  property  that  I  now  own,  on  condition  thalhe 

would  pay  my  debts.     (1  could  well  afford  to  do  that  ) 

It  IS  very  unpleasant,  Brother  Ross,  thus  to  rehearse  to  vou 

these  iXK^r  financial  details  of  my  affairs.     It  is  onlyless  un 

toT  wonlwca'r  '^  'T'""'  "'''  '°  e'-  ^  '  liberal  donation  . 
to  a  worthy  cause,  and  yet  unwilling. 

"  I  pa.ss  now,  to  answer  a  few  points  presented  in  your  letter 
but  not  connected  with  myself,  personally.     The  first  point  U 

matter,    relating    to    ministerial    supmrt.      I  will    codv  a   (Jt 
passages  of  your  letter,  in  which  you  speak  of  your'^own  ex 


A  LETTER  FROM  A  MAN'S  HEART      279 

pericnce  in  the  ministry.     You  wrote  me  that  you  '  have  never 
received  over  three  hundred  dollars  per  annum  for  ministerial 
services,  and,  probably    the  average  wages  would  be  less  than 
Uvo  hundred.       You  '  have  had  pretty  hard  work  to  get  along. ' 
You  'sometimes  think    you  '  might  have  been  something  if  you 
had  had  ha  f  a  chance  '     Even  in  writing  an  important  leuer 
you  have  to    write  hastily,  for '  your  'garden  and  j^Kitatoes  need 
hoeing   and    you  '  know  no  other  way  than  by  the  labour  of 
your  '  hands,  in  part   to  minister  to'  your  ' necessities,  and  to 
those  about    you       Yet   you   •  wish,  sometimes,  that  some  of 
our  brethren  in  the  ministry,  who  have  left  the  connexion,  and 
others  who  are  a  little  homesick  because  our  churches  do  not 
properly  appreciate  and   reward   their  services,  and  complain 

^  h""""!,^^  /  "^'^''T?  r^''^^'^'^  '°  '""Pa"  Pf0P«  instruction 
to  the  churches  could,  for  a  while,  be  placed  in  the  condition 
of  our  early  ministers.' 

"  Certainly  it  is  well  to  appreciate  the  difficulties  and  the 
faithfulness  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us.  The  history  of 
the  hardships  suffered  by  those  who,  in  any  sphere  of  use,  have 
acted  as  pioneers  of  Truth  and  Righteousness,  constitutes  a 
por  lon  of  the  most  useful  and  instructive  of  human  recor.ls. 
Ami  yet,  neither  are  pioneers  (even  in  Christianity)  always 
free  from  blame  in  all  things;   nor  is  the  work  of  the  pioneer 

^'Z,  'IT^Tl  T*°"'  "'"  ^"^^  °^  "^  "^'y  different  sort  of 

gift    for  which  the  pioneer  prepares  the  way.      For  pioneering 

you  need  robust  manhood.  '  rough-and-tumble  '  qualities     vou 

may  postpone  refine.nent  of  all  sorts  until  the  pioneer's  grand- 

Zl  T/,,"'   ''l^  '''"■"•     ''''"^"   "^^  Pi""^*^^  has  done  his 
work,  and  the  wilderness  is  subdued,  then  a  new  slate  of  so- 

^fK'."rr''™"^'T'  ''[''■'■'  ""•""'''-  ^"'^'  ^'  ^  consequence,  new 

gfts  are  required   in  those  who  must  carry  on  the  work  which 

the  pioneer  began.     Min.i  you,  I  do  not  saV  that  less  manhood, 

less  zeal,  less  devotion  to  the  work,  will  serve:   1  only  say  that 

an  entirely  different  class  of  '  gifts  '  may  be  necessary.     Vhen 

the  work  in  a  given  society  or  community  is  to  save  the  people 

nn^fin  r'^',"^  v.ces,-from  drunkenness,  gambling,  harlotry, 

rofanity,  Sabbalh-breaking,-in  short  to  plant  the  Church  _ 

me  very  germ  of  spiritual   society,  among  that  people   then  a 

s.rong  s,,ul   like  John  ,he  B.ptist  (and  n,f  mal.ei^hough  he  be 

as   n>ugh    in    speech    and   dress  as  the  Baptist  was)_a  strong 

soul,   a  sharp   rebuker,  a   stern   denouncer,    is   needed       Very 

httle  need  then   for  church  history,  or  for  Greek  and  Hebrew 


•  4 


280    LIFE  AND  LETJ  KliS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

learning ;  the  poorest  translation  of  the  New  Testament  ever 
made  might  be  good  enough  ;  nay,  but  a  few  chapters  of  the 
Gospel  would  be  sutticient.     Repent!     Repent/     Repent/ 

♦'  But,  Brother  Ross,  when  the  pioneer  has  done  his  work,  and 
the  spiritual  life — the  Church — has  been  planted  in  a  place, 
then  commences  a  new  set  of  conditions.  The- Saved -from- 
their-Sins  must  be  carried  on  in  a  course  of  instruction  and 
improvement,  and,  especially,  those  who  shall  be  born  into  this 
Christian  community — the  new  generation  who  need  not  to  be 
saved,  as  their  tailiers,  from  sins  of  gross  kind,  but  only  pre- 
served— safe,  instructed,  guarded  in  Christian  homes  and  trained 
up  in  the  sanctuary  of  God, — this  new  generation  will  need 
(not  a  pioneer  preaching  at  irregular  times,  in  the  open  air,  by 
Jordan,  or  in  the  desert),  but  a  regular  pastor,  a  fixed  sanctuary, 
stated  worship,  Sunday-schools,  Bible  classes,  Scriptural  ex- 
positions of  such  kind  as  only  he  can  very  well  give  who  has 
had  a  certain  kind  of  education  which  the  John  of  the  Desert 
did  not  receive  (perhaps)  ;  who  also  has  access  to  books,  and 
has  leisure  for  continual  study.  Now  all  this,  Brother  Ross, 
presuj^poses  that  the  age  of  '  Locusts  and  wild  honey,'  has 
come  to  an  end  in  that  conmnmity.  The  i)astor  must  be  fed 
by  his  flock,  if  he  is  to  be  as  useful  as  possible  to  them.  If  he 
has  to  spend  his  time  catching  his  *  locusts  '  (or  to  put  it  in 
modern  phrase,  in  *  hoeing  his  potatoes  ')  he  cannot  spend  it  in 
giving  'attendance  to  reading,'  in  'searching  the  Scriptures  ' 
and  in  pastoral  work.  But,  if  it  is  needful  that  a  man  give  him- 
self wholly  to  these  things,  and  best  that  he  begin  early,  then 
those  who  are  to  come  after  the  pioneers  thus,  will  hardly  be 
qualified^  even,  to  catch  locusts.  Some  of  the  pioneers  began 
to  preach  when  they  were  forty  years  of  age,  or  older,  and  had 
two  kinds  of 'faculty.'  They  could,  by  a  trade,  earn  their 
bread,  and  at  the  same  time  give  tlieir  Sundays  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Word.  It  is  an  admirable  thing  to  be  able  thus  to 
do;  but  the  tendencies  of  the  age — the  multiplied  demands  of 
churches  on  the  ministry — seem  to  put  that  ability  far  away  from 
the  rising  generation  of  i)reachers.  Let  me  instance  my  own 
case.  /  never  learned  a  trade  or  handicraft,  by  which  I  could 
earn  my  bread.  Those  years  which  would  have  been  spent 
naturally  in  an  apprenticeship  to  some  trade,  were  spent  by  me 
at  school.  I  was  learning  what  could  be  made  serviceable,  in 
some  degree  or  in  some  place,  to  the  ministry.  Not  a  pioneer 
1, — not  a  John  the  Baptist ;  but  (perhaps)  a  scribe  instructed 


A  LETTER  FROM  A  MAN'S  HEART      281 

into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  so  as  to  be  able  to  bring  forth  out 
of  the  treasure  (of  history,  of  libraries,  of  Hebrew  and  Greek 
learning)  things  new  and  old.  I  reverence  the  pioneer  of  the 
Gospel ;  but  1  am  not  a  pioneer.  My  gift  is  different  from  his. 
I  cannot  live  by  the  labour  of  my  hands.  If  I  am  to  be  in  the 
ministry,  in  any  effectual  way,  it  can  only  be  on  the  gospel  con- 
dition that  '  they  which  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  by  the 
Gospel.'  And  it  is  certain  to  me  that  I  could  not  'live'  (as 
prices  now  rule)  in  (say  for  instance)  your  conference,  if  (as 
you  say)  the  churches  are  not  able  to  give  more  than  an 
average  of  four  hundred  dollars  for  pastoral  services.  I  would 
be  compelled  to  decline  all  invitations  from  those  churches  for 
the  unsurmountable  reason  that  I  '  cannot  dig,  and  to  beg  I  am 
ashamed.' 

"Now,  if  our  churches  wish  to  make  the  pioneer  condition 
of  the  ministry  a  permanent  institution,  instead  of  recognizing 
it,  as  it  is,  a  merely  transient  phase  of  the  ministry,  to  be 
superseded  as  quickly  as  possible  by  a  fixed  and  better  con- 
dition of  things  ;  then  I  cannot  doubt,  there  will  often  here- 
after be  brethren  who  will  become  what  you  call  'a  litde home- 
sick,' and  who  will,  of  course,  leave  the  connexion,  if  they  can 
find  elsewhere  opportunities  of  living  'by  the  Gospel.'  Nay, 
it  is  my  belief  that  if  we  have  a  Biblical  School,  and  are  able  in 
it  to  train  up  able  pastors  and  teachers,  we  cannot  prevent  them 
—we  must  rather  expect  them  to  receive  and  accept  calls 
from  churches,  here  and  there,  which  are  glad  to  pay  good 
ministers,  and  to  pay  them  competent  salaries.  For,  the  more 
we  educate  our  ministry,  the  more  we  impart  studious  habits, 
and  the  desire  for  learning  and  books,  the  more,  in  short,  we 
make  it  necessary  for  our  ministers  to  use  their  time  for  study 
and  to  have  means  for  the  purchase  of  books,  the  more  we 
shall  make  it  difficult  for  them  to  remain  among  us,  unless  our 
churches  do  really  make  it  possible  for  them  to  'live  by  the 
Gospel:  -^ 

*•  I  assume,  of  course,  that  few  sensible  men  will  be  fright- 
ened by  the  idea  of  leaving  the  denomination.  The  earth  is 
the  Lord's,  the  churches  everywhere  are  His;  the  minister  of 
the  Gospel  may  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature ;  in  short,  he  may  rightfully  go  wherever  he 
may  find  a  Christian  hearing ;  and  whether  in  the  Christian 
denomination,  or  out  of  it,  he  may  still  be  in  the  vineyard  of 
the  Lord.     Nor,  will  it  be  likely  to  repel  these  ministers  from 


282    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

the  work  to  suggest  to  them   that  they  go  •  to  build  upon  an- 

^h^^PK™''?- '  '^°""'^="'0"''  *hen  they  go  beyond  the  bounds  of 
the  Christian  Connexion  to  preach  tlie  Gospel.  In  that  sense 
nine-^tenths  of  our  own  ministers  are  even  now  building  upon 
another  man  s  foundation ;  that  is,  are  carrying  on  work  begun 
before  their  day^  And  every  year  makes  it  nfore  necess^fto 
do  this  very  work.  '1  here  are.  say,  fifty  thousand  churches  or 
societies  already  planted  in  our  country.  It  would  be  a  great 
growth     indeed,    if   two   thousand  new    societies   should    be 

generally  speaking,  as  many  as  twenty-five  ministers  engaged 

m  building  upon  foun.lations  already  laul,  where  there  may  be 

but  one  engaged  in  laying  foundations.     Even  those  who  think 

heniselyes  at  work   in  laying   foundations,  may  call   to  mind 

™,r Lm  .  "'~f  "'"'?  '°  ""=  '^'"'^"'•■^  of  Jesus-it  is  in  an  im- 
portan  sense  true  that  'other  men  laboured,  and  ye  are 
entered  into  their  labours.'  So  the  workman  do  hi  J  work 
taithfully  ,t  IS  little  matter  whether  he  work  at  the  foundation 
or  at  the  turret.      Let  each  work  where  he  best  can 

"  1  his  tram  of  thought— and,  indeed,  your  own  course  of 
remarks— brings  me  to  that  portion  of  your  letter  in  which  you 
ask  me  the  following  questions  : 

V  ',"'•'>■, .<^^n""'  'he  Unitarians  with  their  abundant  wealth 
and  liberalitv,  and  their  Harvard,  Antioch  and  Meadville, 
educate  a  stiflicient  number  of  pastors  and  teachers  to  supply 
them?  Uhydo  they  not  build  up  more  congregations  in  the 
country?  Why  do  not  the  common  people  hear  them 
gladly? 

"I  suppose  that  some  member  of  the  Unitarian  body  could 
better  answer  these  questions  of  yours  than  I  can.  Brother 
l-ay  in  the  GospH  Herald  for  June  1511.,  mentioned  a  re- 
mark of  Dr.  Osgood's,  recently  made,  that  •  with  the  exception 
of  some  political  demonstrations  in  a  few  of  the  great  cities  the 
largest  gatherings  the  East  h.is  witnessed  within  the  past  year 
have  been  called  together  under  the  auspices  of  Liberal  Chris- 

rS'  ?M"'"n.^'7  l',""-'""'^  '°  s-^y  'that  the  Unitarian 
churches  of  New  England  were  never  so  fully  attended  as  they 
have  been  the  past  year,  and  there  have  never  before  been  so 
many  societies  reorganized  in  the  s.ime  length  of  time  with  so 
abundant  promise  of  success,  and  there  are  several  very  im- 
portant points  many  of  them  already  centres  of  vast  influence, 
like  Cleveland,  Ohio,   and    Portland,    Oregon,   where  ample 


A  LETTER  FROM  A  MAN'S  HEART      283 

^laries  would  be  guaranteed  from  the  beginning,  from  which 
the  call  for  n.inisters  is  most  importunely  made ;  but,  alas  '  as 
of  old,     the  harvest  is  great  and  the  labourers  are  few  ' 

.u  "rl  '^^  "^^i"*  ^"^  y"  "^"  qi't^stions,  Brother  Ross.     li\     Is 
the  deficiency  in  the  supply  of  pastors  and  teachers  any  greater 
proportiona  ly   among   the   Congregational  churches  Lfown  a^ 

r,^'  wLTt'  P  ."  ,"T"?  "^^'O^hodox'  Congregationalists? 
(2)  U  hat  Protestant  denomination  has.  within  the  last  two 
years,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  churches,  built  up 
more  congregations  in  this  country,  and  gamed  a  larger  hearing 
from  the  people  generally,  than  the  '  Unifarian '  ?  ^ 

''  But,  though  I  thus  answer  and  return  questions,  do  not 
mistake  me  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  have  an  unqualified 
admiration  for  everything  '  Unitarian.'  Neither  do  I  belong 
to  the  number  of  those  (alas  !  that  the  number  seem  so  largl 
among  us)  who  seem  unable  to  speak  of  the  Unitarians  except 
when  some  word  of  doubt  and  suspicion  is  to  be  uttered 

"  X  pass  on  to  other  questions  which  you  have  put  to  me 
You  write  that,  'Some,  perhaps  many,  have  thought  thai 
Brother  Cra.g  conceived  that  Antioch  College  was  as  good  an 
institution,  and  doing  as  much  for  the  cause  that  the  Christians 
had  in  view  in  its  conception,  as  though  they  had  retained  and 
managed  it  in  accordance  with  their  views.  In  short,  that  the 
Christians  should  be  satisfied  with  Antioch,  and  patronize  it 
And  also  that  the  Meadville  School  is  just  the  Biblical  SchJoi 
that  we  need,  and  that  nothing  but  prejudice  and  sectarian 
bigotry  moves  us  to  try  to  build  another  college  or  Theological 
School.     Now,  Brother  Craig,  is  this  your  opinion  ? .  ^°'°S'^^' 

Were  fT  ""''"^'  ^™"'"  ^°'''  °''  "'«  '^"g"^  °^  this  letter. 
Were  I  to  answer  this  passage  and  question  just  copied  from 

your  letter,  answer  it  fully,  as  I  would  like  to  answer  itTn  con 
versation  with  you,— I  know  not  how  many  more  pages  I  would 
forror°mfne  '"a''/  --"er-already  too'many  for^Lr  c'S 
.;.xi,     A  .  ^.  f^^^,gf"eral  statements  must  here  suffice. 

with  Aminrh"'"v  '  '^°"'''  "'J  ^'"  "y  °P'"'°")  '  be  satisfied 
with   Antioch       No   men-and   no   body  of  people-having 

capacities  and  means,  should  ever  be  satisfied  to  have  every? 

h  ng  done  for  them.  Were  Antioch  twice  the  excellence  that 
L  nL"^".K°  ^'  '"'•"  ^  '"^""■'^  ^^y  '^^'  ^  ^^hool  Of  less  merit- 
in^  1  fi        ^^^  ".'^'^  ^  "^''°°'  ^"Stained  by  our  efforts-call- 

hfn„  our  liberality,  taxing  our  energies,  costing  us  some- 
thing, would  do  us  more  good.     I  have  hoped,  Brother  Ross, 


284    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIX  CRAIG 

that  our  brethren  would  by  and  by  awake  to  the  recognition  of 
the  great  opportunity  for  usefulness  to  ourselves— to  society— 
which  Antioch  presents  to  us.     It  will  be  a  great  disappoint- 
ment   to   me,   if  at  last  our  brethren  let  Antioch  utterly  go 
helping  It  forward  no  more  in  the  very  useful  career  which  1  do 
feel  confident  is  yet  before  it.      The  best  thing  our  brethren— 
especially  here  in  Oiiio— could  do  with  ^100,000,  even  now 
(It  seems  to  me),  would  be  to  put  it  into  Antioch  College      But 
though  Antioch  should  continue  (as  I  trust  it  will)  To  sustain 
and    to   carry  forward  the  great  principle  of  unsectarian  yet 
Chris  lan  education,  the  equal  right  and  privilege  of  all  who 
would  come,— and   though   the  college  should  within  a  year 
double  Its  present  endowment,  and  within  ten  years  quadruple 
It  (as  is  not  unlikely);  yet,  if  our  brethren  are  to  sit  quietly  by 
seeing  all  this  vyork  done  by  others,— work  which  they  have  a 
right  to   help   do— which   they   (in   this  state  of  Ohio)   have 
abundant    means   for  doing,-!   must  say,    rather  than   have 
them  send  their  sons  and  daughters  to  Antioch— to  steal  their 
education   (as  some  hearers  are  content  io  steal  their  preaching 
—letting  others  pay  the  preacher),  I  would   count  if  far  more 
creditable   to  them   to   be  content  with  an   education   in  any 
second  rate  seminary  of  our  land,  on  condition  that  the  semi- 
nary were  their  own  m  this  sense;  namely,  that  they  had  paid 
tor  it,  and   whatever  educational   means  it  did  afford     were 
honestly    procured    by   their   own    efforts   and    contributions. 
Jiad  as  ignorance  is,  it  is  not  so  bad  as  meanness. 

"Our  people  did  incur  a  disaster  here  at  Antioch,— the  in- 
evitable effect  (I  do  sincerely  believe)  of  our  own  rash  and 
blameworthy  methods  of  oj-eration  ;  but  the  disaster  does  not 
seem  to  me  an  irretrievable  one.  Nor  need  we-nor  ought  we 
—(I  thmk)  to  go  into  a  'pet'  and  renounce  the  great  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  good  and  getting  good  which  here  remains  to 

"  I  wish,  however,  to  confine  myself  to  the  enunciation  of  a 
general  pru.cple.  If  I  should  turn  aside  to  the  details  of  this 
Antioch  business,  the  story  would  grow  interminable.  The 
principle  is  this  :  As  K-<r  have  means  and  powers  for  service  in 
the  vineyan)  of  the  Lord,  we  ought  not  to  be  content  to  have 
our  schooling  g,ven  to  us,-nor  our  schools  built,  endowed, 

wn,  fl   ,°"  "''/^^  °"«'''  •"  do-ourselves.     I  confess  ii 

vo.HH   n^  ""^   "»»-f  1; 0"ie  assurance  to  me,  that  our  brethren 
would  never  more  do  anything  for  Antioch.     But,  if  that  (al- 


A  LETTER  FROM  A  MAN'S  HEART      285 

most  /«Ja«^.  disposition  as  I  must  regard  it)  should  finally  pos- 
sess those  of  ours  who  might  be-and  should  be  helpers  of 
Antioch  s  work,-then  let  the  brethren  by  all  ^^^2.x^^  work  some 
a,/,^r,r,-help  something,  build  up  some  institution  with  their 
hands  and  means       Ihe  surest  sign  (it  seems  to  me)  of  decay 

n  hi'rf]^  ''°k''^  "f  '"  "^"l  "'""  ^'"'"S  '°  "^^"S  "P°n  others, 
to  be  held  up  by  others;  when  they  ought-by  reason  of  thei^ 

streng  h  and  means— to  be  holding  themselves  up,  and  helping 
°A  .°  u"P  ^"""'f  '^''°  '"^y  specially  need  help  from  them 
Antioch  may  do  even  more  for  the  great  principle  which 
gave  It  birth  in  the  present  relations,  than  it  might  have  done 
had  we  retained  ,t  wholly  under  our  denominational  control 
But  It  will  not  bless  us,  as  it  might,  unless  we  do  something 
tor  It — give  It  of  our  means.  ° 

"  Further :     I  hold  '  The  Meadville  School  '  in  respect  and 
grateful  remembrance.     Not  everything  taught  there  accords 
with  my  views,  or   suits  my  preferences.      Yet,  I  hold  mvself 
^ITlt    A?  ""'Tl  '^y  *  m°st  minute  detail  of  individual  cases, 
that  the  Meadville  School  has  done  us  good,-far  more  good 
than   harrn  ;   and  I   believe  that  I  can  show  that  the  good  was 
deliberately  intended  and  the  resulting  harm  (whatever  it  may 
have  been)  not  intended  as  such.     We  have  received  great 
benefit  (I  am  prepared  to  prove)  from  the  Meadville  School  • 
we  owe  ,t  a  debt  of  thanks.     We  might  have  received  more 
benefit  from  that  school,  if  we  had  given  it  something,  instead 
of  always  taking  from  it.     We  have  encouraged  our  young  men 
to  go  thither  (/r.  I  say._I  mean  conferences  and  miifisTers 
and  writers  of  ours)— to  take  the  instruction  kindly  and  freelv 
given ;  v«ll,  that  we  had  to  do  then  for  we  had  no  instruction 
to  give  them  at  home ;    but,  why  need  we  let  those  liberal 
Inends  who  gave  books,  and  teaching,   supply  also  the  very 
bread  and  butter  (and  clothing  sometimes)  of  our  young  men  ? 
In^  ™'eh'  have  paid  the  boarding  bills  of  our  own  students, 
and  have  been  every  way  the  better  for  it.     Let  me  give  vo.1 
one  instance.  Brother  Ross.  ^       ' 

J'?J!:l  °^'?t"■     '^'^^^K    ^ent    to   the   Meadville  School 

he  could  ^H  KT''\°r  ''"'^^-  "^  ''^'P^d  himself  all 
he  could  He  built  with  his  own  hands  the  house  in  which 
he  and  his  little  family  expected  to  pass  the  four  years 
of  his  course  there.  That  spirit  deserved  sympathy  and  might 
have  justified  our  churches  in  making  some  small  provision  for 
his  help.     Thinking  so,  I  referred  to  his  case  in  one  of  our 


2SG    LIFE  AND  LETTEllS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


I 


papers,  hoping  that  the  statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case 
would  stir  up  some  churches  or  brethren  to  offer  him  aid.  1 
have  yet  to  learn  that  he  received  a  dollar  of  help  from  any  of 
ours  in  response  to  the  call;  but  the  statement  was  copied 
from  our  Herald  into  a  Unitarian  paper,  and  slionly  afterwards 
a  lady  in  an  Eastern  state— a  stranger  to  him  and  to  us—re- 
mitted  twenty-five  dollars  to  the  president  of  the  Mead- 
ville  School,  for  the  brother  whose  case  had  been  thus  n»en- 
tioned. 

"  Brother  Ross,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  it  was  neither  wise 
nor  prudent,  nor  magnanimous  nor  generous  in  our  churches  to 
permit  our  own  '  Elders  '  year  after  year  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of 
the  Meadville  School,  and  to  be  supplied  at  the  same  time  by 
the  school  with  their  daily  food.  We  were  not  able  to  furnish 
those  students,  at  that  time,  with  the  instruction  they  sought ; 
but,  surely,  our  people  had  plenty  of  bread  and  butter  i  But 
I  hold  back  at  this  point ;  for  good  Brother  Ross  has  already 
written  me  that  he  *  can  conceive  of  no  real  good  to  result  from 
publishing  the  nakedness  of  our  fathers  or  brethren.  What  is 
said  on  this  subject '  (Brother  Ross)  *  should  prefer  to  have  said 
directly  to  the  delinquents.'  But,  alas!  Brother  Ross,  the 
dehnquency  in  this  special  respect  seems  to  have  been— one  is 
tempted  to  ^d^y— almost  general  ^in^owg  us. 

"  But  I  am  weary  of  writing  these  things.  Two  things  I 
would  rejoice  to  see  our  connexion  do,  and  to  help— according 
to  my  scanty  means— to  do. 

"  (i)     I  wish  to  see  an  entire  cessation  of  all  unkind  flings 

at  '  Meadville,'  at  *  Antioch,'  and  at  the  Unitarians.     We  owe 

Meadville  thanks,  at  any  rate.     There  is  nothing  surely  in  our 

professed   principles,  and  in  the  Christian  spirit,  to  prevent  us 

from  speaking  kindly  and  appreciatively  of  Unitarian  schools 

and   people,  when   they  deserve ;    and   if  they  don't    deserve, 

silence  would    befit   us  rather   than    the   ungenerous  style  of 

speech  which  some  have  used  in  our  papers.     1  believe  that  our 

brethren  could  do  good  to  the  Unitarians  in  the  W^est,  and  get 

good  at  the  same  time.     I  thank  no  man  who  attempts  to  sow 

dragon's  teeth,  and  who  wishes  to  serve  our  denomination  by 

contmually  belittling  Unitarians,   Universalists,  Campbellites, 

or  any  others.     The  men  who  do  such  business  seem  to  me  to 

betray  a  lurking  consciousness  of  inability  to  successfully  cope 

with  thenri,  a  sense  of  inferiority,  weakness,  or  insufficiency  of 

some  kind,  to  be  compensated  for  by  extra  efforts  in  the  way  of 


I 


A  LETTER  FROM  A  MAN'S  HEART      287 

inflaming  or  exciting  denominational  prejudice  of  some  sort 

.hat  ^co^sts^^t^l::s"o^err™;o'^^r  ^^^^ 

-king  nobody  for  a  dollar,  efcfp't  our "o^'u'Sks"  T  clS 
hnik  that  •  MeadvUle '  would  be  any  the  less  useful  in  caseour 
brethren  should  establish  and  sustain  a  good  Bib"  cal  Sch<S^ 

1  J:  TT^^  a'f '"'^^  'T'"^^^'  °^  Union  cSanS 
lege,  or  of  half  a  dozen  good  academies  and  schools  bv  us 
«-ould  not  .urely  huider  or  limit  the  usefulness  of  <  Amk,ch"n 
any  way.     I  am  sure  we  have  too  much  '  prejudice  and  se^ 
tanan  bigotry  •  among  us;  but  we  will  get  rid  of  them  m^e 

;He=rrf  -set- 1^^:^  --;- s  prS^,r^ 

£ru.be1're:?i;srcL^i--:„^^^^^^^^^^ 
t^;:^^  '-''  'T-^^  P-P'^  had  a  mnfd'Sr;! 

.-ylTag^qrrcJnfeir^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

s;^toodre^o^trS\- -dift  i"  ^^--^^^t^o: 

Biblical  School      Ed  oflc  two  distmct  gifts  for  the 

'*  Austin  Craig." 


XV 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFORD 

DURING  the  closing  years  of  the  Bloomiog  Grove 
pastorate,  also  while  at  Antioch  and  until  1869 
when  he  became  president  of  the  Christian  Bibli- 
cal Institute,  Dr.  Craig  gave  regular  lectures  to  the  stu- 
dents of  the   Meadville  Theological  School,  located  at 
Meadville,   Pennsylvania.     This  school  was  established 
just  as  he  was  coiii])leting  liis  college  course,  and  he 
early  took  a  lively  and  sustained  interest  in  it.     The 
school,  as  its  first  prospectus  set  forth,   pr(\sented  the 
History  and  Explanations  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments,  Biblical   Antiquities,    Evidences  of  Natural  and 
Revealed  Religion,  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  Logic 
and    Rhetoric,   Composition   and   Delivery  of  Sermons 
Ecclesiiustical    History,    Systematic   Theology,    Piistoral 
Care,  Grc^^k  and  Hebrew  Languages,  Latin  and  German. 
**  Persons  wishing  to  know  the  religious  sentiments  of 
the  schooV   the  prospectus  sets  forth,   ^^are  informed 
that  it  has  been  established  by  the  united  efforts  of  the 
Christian  and  Unitarian  denominations.     To  such  as  are 
ignorant  how  ftir  these  denominations  acknowledge  the 
right  of  private  judgment,  we  would  further  say,  that 
students  of  all  persuasions  are  entitled  to  equal  privilege 
and  will  receive  like  attention." 

The  dual  control  of  the  school,  while  lielpful  in  many 
ways,  was  not  altogether  satisfactory  to  some  who  were 
interested,  and  now  and  again  most  unreasonable  criti- 
cisms were  made.  Dr.  Craig,  ever  ready  to  lend  a  hand, 
either  to  smooth  troubled  waters  or  to  rebuke  the  storm 

288 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFORD      289 

that  roused  them,  wrote  a  letter  when  the  school  was 
some  five  yeai^  old,  published  in  the  Christian  Palladium, 
which  has  a  direct  bearing. 


"I  have  been  an  attentive  reader."  he  writes,  "of  several 
comniun.cations  which  have  appeared  in  the  Palladium  x^ 
specng  the  Meadville  School  and  the  Unitarians  Some  of 
the*  commumcat.ons  seen,  to  have  been  written  in  a  spirit  of 
fa.rness  and  Christian  candour;  others  of  them  are  characterhed 
by  narrowness  and  lUiberality.  Extreme  positions  have  evi 
demly  been  taken  by  both  the  adm.rers  and  the  opposers  of  the 
school,  and  of  the  religious  body  that  originated  1  One 
class   of  your    correspondents  writes  in  strfins   of  consmi^t 

a"Sul3"o?'th'"Tr""^  °'  ""  ^•='"'°''  ^-^  "-  hberaht; 
ami  culture  of  the  Unitanans.-And  in  truth  the  Unitari- 
ans  are  liberal,  are  cultivated.  And  so  are  the  members  of 
the  .  New  Jerusalem  Church.'     A„d  so  are  others     Serality 

anvcS/"""  "°'  ^"f'''^  to  the  Unitarians ;  nor  is  the  ^ 
any  Cnrtsttan  reason  why  we  should  be  less  anxious  to  dis- 
cover and  acknowledge  the  liberality  and  culture  of  other 
denommations,  than  to  admire  them  as  the  Jo  se  sion  of  5ur 
U.mar,an  brethren.  And  the  Meadville  Schoo  s  urob 
ably  one  of  the  best  institutions  of  its  kind  ^ 

petent''an,rf'fi,hf^^r'^  "T  '''^^='' /""^^iples,  that  it  has  com- 
peent   and   faithful   professors,   and   that  it   offers  manv  and 

cla  ms  A  '^"f  ^J  "'°''  '"^^  ^'^  qualified  to  kdjudge^  s 
claims.  And  if  this  institution  had  always  been  men  ioned  hv 
your  correspondents  in  a  manner  calcukted  "o  gTve  a  sober 
view  of  the  aids  afforded   by  schools  of  divinity   I  would  no[ 

ct^s  ^L^nrth-cast" '''  ^--^  —--- 

.u'.'r'^^T^T^'f   '^'"^'^  ^"''    theological   training  have  been 

to  ttcLn^  "P  '°  ""^  ''  ^^'^'"'  ^'^^  q-'^  dispensable 
been  ^Pven  r  T'"X'  '"' •  «"-^^^g^nt  impressions  have 
preilrf  rnn  T^K  "?  "?^  "i''''^  °'"  '^^'  ""'"d  of  ministerial 
evXtIv  h^^'n-.  ''^°°''  u^  ."^^'"^y  "^"^"y  ^ff^^d.  Now. 
nemri  I'^  r  '''  °^^  theological  institution  consists  in  the 
niental  and  religious  culture  which  it  provides.     And  so  far  as 

-ra^nrr^'""'  °^"^f  ''"''"^"«  °f^"^h  institutions  extend 
(.and  I  have  some  knowledge  of  them)  it  would  not  be  fai 


V 


Ih 


290    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

from  the  fact  to  estimate  their  direct  moral  and  religious  in- 
fluence as  nothing. 

"There  are  no  adequate  provisions  in  the  present  general 
system  of  theological  training  for  the  culture  of  the  heart. 
And  I  confess  that  1  look  with  diminishing  interest  upon  that 
peculiar  kind  of  preparation  for  ministerial  life,  which  theo- 
logical institutions  afford.  I  wish  to  be  sensible  of  their  ad- 
vantages, and  to  avoid  all  terms  of  unnecessary  disparagement ; 
but  1  cannot  close  my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  our  schools  of 
theology  are  doing  comparatively  little  for  the  advancement  of 
great  moral  and  social  interests.  They  do  not  furnish  our 
most  energetic  and  efficient  reformers.  Ten  laymen,  I  pre- 
sume, could  be  found  in  our  country  who  are  doing  more  to 
advance  the  cause  of  Peace,  I'emperance,  Freedom  and  Gen- 
eral Reform,  than  is  being  accomplished  by  the  majority  of  all 
our  theological  schools. 

"One  fact  must  be  obvious  to  even  the  careless  observer ; 
— a  most  startling  and  suggestive  fact ;— that  the  clerical  pro- 
fession has  not  the  confidence  and  sympathy  of  the  masses  of 
the  people  /  And  why  have  they  not  ?  I  answer, — (and  to 
my  mind  this  is  the  very  root  of  the  difficulty)— the  prevalent 
system  of  theological  training  tends  to  sever  the  minister  from 
everything  pertaining  to  the  actual  life  of  the  busy  world 
around  him.  It  tells  him  that  his  place  is  in  the  pulpit;  and 
the  retirement  of  the  study.  It  teaches  him  to  regard  the 
pulpit  as  a  most  holy  [)lace;  and  a  place  set  apart,  not  so  much 
for  the  brotherly  instruction  and  sympathy,  which  the  sweat- 
ing, toiling  millions  need,  as  for  the  elucidation  of  tangled 
mysteries,  and  denunciation  of  divine  wrath.  He  learns  also 
to  dread  freedom  of  thought ; — to  regard  a  creed  as  a  thing 
more  sacred  than  the  faculties  of  the  human  soul ;  or,  to  con- 
sider the  bread  and  wine  on  the  communion  board,  and  the 
wooden  slabs  and  crimson  cloth  of  the  pulpit,  as  holier  than 
truth. 

"  It  will  perhaps  be  thought  that  I  have  described  extreme 
cases.  But  whether  extreme  cases  or  not,  such  cases  are  by  no 
means  few  ;  and  if  all  our  present  theological  schools  do  not 
furnish  them,  it  is  nevertheless  undeniable  that  every  system 
of  theological  instruction  which  isolates  the  student  from  the 
varied  toils  and  interests  of  busy  human  life,  tends  to  deprive 
him  of  the  sympathies  of  the  multitudes,  and  thus  to  narrow 
the  sphere  of  his  Christian  influence.     The  theological  schools 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFORD      291 

may  iiKleed  make  of  their  students  preachers  and  theologians 
but  they  do  not,  ami  cannot,  make  them  what  is  7inSv 
more  consequence,  Christian  pastors  mnnitely 

I  l^^.  P^sLrs  "  pU'h  "^';^  "f '  oir.X.^,0..  societies? 
\:^::rLl'^.  l^^iZ'^'V:::^  abundance,  and 
as  the  people  feel   thattis  ^^^^Z:^^-]^ 

and    their   mmisters  ? and    I    ren^:,t   ff     ♦!     -^„,  '*'^^,'-"  u^^m 

pastors:  ,„en  who  will  sy^S' w  h  aU  th  'pS.iaTr? 
lations  and  toils  and  dangers  and  temptations  of  the  strueeline 
■nasses  ,n  society  ;  men  wlio  can  eiUer  the  cabinfof  tKof 
without  causing  the  Iieart  of  the  busy  housewife  to  fl m/er  ^  i 
who  will  take  the  children  upon  their\i~ J  ^our  i  to\hdr 
ears,  wuh  all  the  simplicity  of  childhood,  the  story  o  he  se! 
denying  and  suffering  Jesus  :-men  who,  whether  in  "heDulm't 
or  at  the  fireside,  shall  be  so  closely  kni    in  sympathy  wkh  the 

1^2"°"  f^P''"^'^""^^  ^hall  ever  confidentry  7el  (  f  they 
do  not  say)  Hen  one  of  us.  Such  men  the  Ch  urch  needs  •  the 
«'or Id  needs  ;  but  what  rational  hope  can  we  indulge  that  onr 
theological  schools  will  supply  ,hem?  We  may  fmljfne  a 
kuKl  of  theological  school  which  would  supply  such  mT  bu^ 

."rt  LTd  Te-a  =1 71 1  tif -s°f -^^ 

felf!reirncellf^^^^      "''  ""t'^^'  "  would  develop  a  noble 

oldi:;^.''^'"^  '^'^  "'•  ^''P"'-"  ■"  'he  toilTanTtrialf  o? 

bv"snrh'  ^'^'f'  '•''"''''  ^''°  '^""'^•■^'^  'he  intellect  of  the  student 
by  such  stmlies  as  would  give  him  self-knowledge  knowS 
of  society,  and  real  life;  and  such  as  should  e£e  hi  Sd 
to  the  grasp  of  the  universe.  Studies  in  Physiolofy  General 
History,  Astronomy,  Mental  and  Political  Science    Anatomv 

end  ttf 'tif  """r  "^1  ''^''  "°"'^  ^^^"^ '°  "^  better  adapfed'oTh^ 
ties'  hfr*^  '^""'"^'^  .'"""'^  "f"  Hebrew  roots.  Biblical  Ainiqui! 
ties,  the  Composition  of  Sermons  and  Dogmalic  Theology  ^ 


' 


P!^ 


i 


292    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"This  school  would  recognize  the  fact  that  goodness  is  the 
natural  ground  of  truth,  and  that  a  pure  heart  is  worth  more  in 
interpreting  the  Scriptures  than  all  '  Hernieneutical  Aids  '  and 
'  Critical  Apparatus.'  It  would  therefore  chiefly  aim  to  vivify 
the  religious  affections.  It  would  cultivate  the  moral  sense. 
It  would  enforce  the  claims  of  piety.  It  would  labour  most 
of  all  to  draw  out  the  soul  in  fervent  aspirations  to  heaven.  It 
would  study  the  Holy  Word  not  so  much  'critically'  as  prac- 
tically; not  so  much  to  learn  *a  systematic  theology,' as  to 
develop  a  pure  life. 

•*  The  professors  in  this  school  should  be  selected  more  with 
reference  to  their  piety  and  Christian  experience,  than  to  their 
doctrinal  opinions  and  scholastic  knowledge.  They  should 
esteem  good  sense  and  fervent  piety  as  attainments  far  ex- 
celling, and  to  the  Christian  minister  infinitely  more  impor- 
tant than  all  the  treasures  of  classical  and  scholastic  lore. 

"  But  I  have  wandered  from  the  subject  with  which  I  began. 
I  intended  simply  to  remark  the  ultra  positions  assumed  by 
some  of  your  corresix)ndents,  in  relation  to  the  Meadville 
School  and  the  Unitarians.  One  class  of  them,  as  I  have 
observed,  seems  extravagantly  smitten  with  the  charms  of  this 
school  and  the  denomination  which  gave  it  birth.  I'his  class 
of  persons  seems  in  danger  of  closing  its  eyes  upon  the  ex- 
cellencies of  other  institutions  and  other  religious  bodies. 
They  seem  verging  towards  the  point  of  exclusiveness. 

**  Brethren,  let  us  not  part  with  the  catholicity  of  spirit  which 
we  have  professed  before  the  world. 

"  Another  class  of  your  correspondents  takes  a  position  w^ith 
reference  to  this  school  and  the  Unitarians  u|)on  an  extreme 
opposite  to  the  writers  above  mentioned.  From  this  class  we 
hear  that  *  Unitarian  greatness  consists  in  empty  show  and 
haughty  assumption  ;  '  that  «  the  Unitarians  are  as  ignorant  as 
they  are  weak,'  and  that  « as  a  people  they  do  not  understand 
the  power  of  the  Gospel ;  '  and  that  they  are  *  one  of  the  most 
feeble,  effeminate,  spiritless  and  ineffectual  denominations  in 
the  country  to  qualify  our  ministers  ;  '  and  that  '  we  may  as 
well  send  children  to  a  maker  of  artificial  flowers  to  learn  to 
raise  fruit,  as  to  place  young  men  under  the  instruction  of 
Unitarians  to  learn  to  preach  the  Gospel.' 

*'  I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Editor,  to  read  in  the  Palladium  expres- 
sions so  illy  calculated  to  promote  'brotherly  kindness,'  as  are 
some  of  the  above.     Harsh  words  and  empty  declamations  are 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFORD   293 

not  characteristic  of  cool  heads  or  Christian  hearts.  And 
what  is  to  be  gamed  by  such  language  ?  Will  it  give  further- 
ance to  the  cause  of  religious  brotherhood  ?  And  then,  what 
must  the  world  thmk  of  it  :  a  newspaper  bearing  the  name  of 
Christian  professing  to  be  devoted  to  the  cause  of  brotherly 
love,  and  proudly  displaying  underneath  its  title  the  Christian 
motto-'  birs,  ye  are  brethren ;  why  do  ye  wrong  one  another  ?  ' 
-such  a  paper,  I  say,  prostituted  to  become  a  vehicle  of  slang 
disgraceful  to  a  partisan  political  print !  In  the  name  of  Chris- 
tian charity  I  protest  against  it !  " 

While  his  interest  in  the  Meadville  school  heightened 
with  the  years,  interest  in  him  on  the  part  of  those  in  charge 
grew  as  markedly,  so  that,  in  the  beginning  of  the  school 
year,  1864-65,  both  interests  were  welded  and  he  became 
non-resident  professor  of  *' the  Department  of  Christian 
Lile  and  Experience."  In  a  letter  from  President 
A.  A.  Livermore,  regarding  the  course  of  lectures,  he 
says :  ' 

"  Mv  DEAR  Cra,g  :  "  '''""''''"'•  "'"■'  ^"^'"'  '^'  '^^*- 

"  At  what  time   do   you   think   you   could  give  us  a 

mhied'  Zr  '""  P'""'  '"  'l^'''^  to  Antioch  so^nde ter 
mi,  ed    that  you  cannot  state  the  time?     We  are  not  partic- 
ular.    VVe   will  accommodate   you  as  to  what  month  in   the 
year  would  be  most  agreeable,  provided  it  is  not  June 

A   course  of  talks,   or  lectures,  or  sugeestions  or  what 
ever  ,t  might  be  called,  on  the  Christian  Experience  and  Life 

Pra;er'"^Vork    T'"  "  -^""^^T"'   ^^P-^ance,  Renewlt 
rrayer,     Work,    Communion    with    God,    Faith    in   Christ 
FelWship  in  the  Church,    Study   of  th;  Word,    Forma  fn 
ale    ;  '     '  "^"^"^ Leading  a  Good  Life,  Hope  of  Accept 
le  fintt'      f  ^V*^^^-.     '^  *  ^api'l  '^"'^^  of  John's  Gospel, 

course    Lu       A     ""","  '•?  P°="'""  ''^^^'"g'  """'^  ^elp  thi 
course,  well  and  good_if  not,   then   I  would  not  use  John. 

be  Inhn?«  7^'  ,^^''f  ""'S""'  ^  *a''^"'  a"d  0"e  y^"  it  might 
versations,  or  lectures. 

out"  JoM   f'f^J  ^^^\  '^'"'''"'   ^"    ^^'^^^^    y^"   h^ve  drawn 
out  gold  leaf  of  thought  in  a  palpable  form  on  these  topics. 


294    LIFE  AND  LETTEliS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

"A  prominent  clergyman  of  our  body  was  so  much  pleased 
with   this  arrangement  that  he  said  the  funds  should  be  oro 
vided  from  his  society.  ^ 

''Now    dear  brother,    so   we  think  and  feel  and  pray   you 
understand  us.  ^    ^'  ^ 

"  Truly  your  friend  and  brother, 

*' A.  A.   LiVERMORE." 

In  replying  to  this  letter  Dr.  Craig  writes  : 

''  Your  list  of  subjects  for  my  'talks  or  lectures  '  to  your 
students,  I  like.  But  I  would  like  to  treat  the  most  of  those 
subjects  m  connection  with  the  reading  of  John's  Gospel  in 
the  Greek  (of  considerable  portions  of  it,  at  least),-^as  was 
at  first  proposed  Perhaps  I  could  not  adopt  any  definite 
plan  (in  all  its  details),  until  I  had  been  some  time  with  the 
young  men    to  feel  their  spirit,  and  learn  their  special  needs. 

And  (if  It  meet  your  approval)  I  would  like  to  hire 
lodgings  and  board,— during  my  term— at  '  Divinity  Hall  ' 
It  the  young  men  will  let  me  mess  with  them,— so  that  'l 
may  spend  familiar  hours  with  them  out  of  the  class-room 
—I  may  more  readily  obtain  such  a  knowledge  of  them' 
individually  and  collectively,  and  more  speedily  gain  such 
friendship  from  them  and  for  them,  as  might  be  no  incon- 
siderable  preparation  for  teaching  thenj  successfully.— I  hope 
too,  that  some  excellent  opportunities  of  profiting  them,  might 
arise  in  those  out-of-class  hours."  ^ 

In  the  winter  of  1865  he  wrote  to  his  wife  from  Mead- 
ville : 


I  am  very  comfortable  here  in  number  nine,  and  in  this 
circle.  I  think  everything  is  improved.  The  administration 
below  stairs  is  very  good,  it  seems  to  me.  The  cookery 
and  quality  of  food  are  excellent,  and  everything  seems  to  go 
on  without  hitches.     And   the  behaviour  of  the    students  ^s 

newcomers  are,  seemingly,  good  men. 

and  \eT^f  m""'t  "'  ^^''  ?"7''  ^°"'"  ^^y  b^^^^^  yesterday, 
and   tea  at  Mr.    Livermore's   last   evening.     They   are   very 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFORD      295 

kind^    Both   of  them  were  in  my  room  to  see  me  to-day   and 
Mr.  Livermore  conies  in  every  day  ^' 

lectures'"!  ^occJnfT'^"^^  T"^"'  "^'^  '^'  ^^"^^"^^  ^"   ^Y 
lectures,     i    occupy    from    eleven    to    twelve-thirty    rdinneri 

every  morning;  and  to-day  I  had  an  extra  hour  (two  th^^^^^^ 
to  three-thiriy  p  m.),  which  I  expect  to  continue.  I  told  Mr^ 
Livermore  that  I  would  take  an  extra  hour,  if  he  and  Mr  Carv 
would  throw  up  their  recitations  for  a  vveek  and  take  i,  rZ^ 
He  thought  well  of  it;  and  so  1  am  doin^the  daS  ,o,^^^^^ 
about  a  sermon  and  a  half !  ^  '  °' 

"  l':'^,  '^<^"  "ngs  now.     (Five-thirty  o'clock  ) 

the'Sef  "n"'^7',  ''"""  r'  '^'"'""^  '°  "^y  ^oom  from 
It  i''  hour^f^'erl  '"  ^'"'lj--"ts-Mr.  Ha.haway-preached. 
tor  an  hour  after  tea  a  student  was  with  me  talking  of  good 

into  my  room— '  Christian     ministers.     One  of  them  with  his 

That  he'buil  'with'?  '""  T  '^^  f"'"^^^  ^-""d  i"  a  Htl  hu 
that  he  built  with  his  own  hands  for  about  $ioo.    He  found  it  not 

possible  to  rent  a  house  for  less  than  that  sum  a  year     and 

s  for':„'>"'  ^'''°r^^'  ■"  ^^Ich  he  can  liv'e  for  four 
years,  for  so  long  he  thinks  to  stay.  Another  student  i, 
here  who  has  six  chihlren.  Another  o^f  the  three  wo  vT  ted 
n  e  this  afternoon,  had  wished  for  years  to  ao  to  schoo  hnf 
h'e   a     tlrr"  ^"  i  ''^'f  "^  ""•■     A^few  mon°hs  ago 

L^f  s^  i  1°  :.s^scZ;rhr7eeS.;'tf  ;| 

SU  t'^XscToo?'.''^^^^-     "^  ^'-  ^rou,..\^t^?:i 


I  hale  but  one  "tv  T  °"  ^^'"'"^^y-  To-day  (Christmas) 
Ml    Ind  Mr?  r         "  '^'""°?"  ^'-  ^"'1  Mrs.  Livermore  and 

w  h  us  an  W^^"'  '"V"^  '°  '^'  ^^''"'"''''  dinner  here 
of  onr,  rJ  I  ^  ""fl  .^  '""°^^  "^^'  I  ^'5"^d  some  students 
^.fe  1 ,7  fi  "■  uf'}  ""'^  ^''  ^'■«her  (and  the  elder's  family- 
c  urch  twj^,r  '^'''^''"^  '  ^'  •^'■'^^'^hes  half  the  Sunday  to  a 
hi  nil'        ^  ™''^5  away,  getting  say  $250  a  year,  which  with 

board  rr'  /''T-  •'''  '''"'""y  °f  f°"^  dollars  a  week  for 
of  -.nA-K  *"'  ''^'"'=^-     ^  ^'^''^d  '"°  the  little  shanty  home 

of  another  minister  here,  with  his  wife  and  child-I  guess  I 

quentirin"^  "'''•     ^"^^  ^'""^"'^  ^"-"^  *"  and  visit  me  fre- 

comer^  talTU°°™- ,  \  '"'  '"""^  P'""^^''  ^^i*  the  newest 
<-omer,  a  tall,  benign  looking  man,  who  has  been  a  Methodist 


I 

I 


I 


290     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

circuit  preacher,— preached  four  years,— is  about  twenty-six 
years  old.  Meads  Tuthill  came  from  church  to  dinner  with 
me  yesterday. 

"  In  the  morning  preached  in  the  Unitarian  church  from 
Luke  2  :  15,  '  Let  us  now  go  even  unto  Bethlehem,  and  see  this 
thing  which  is  come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  made  known 
mito  us.'  Good  attention,  and  sermon  not  long.  Afternoon 
at  three,  went  to  the  church  of  the  coloured  people,  preached 
to  them  from  Acts  8  :  26-39,— the  Conversion  of  the  Ethiopian. 
Services  in  all  about  one  liour  and  twenty  minutes,  and  atten- 
tion good.  Went  to  Mr.  Cary's— on  invitation— to  tea.  Even- 
ing, preached  in  the  Unitarian  church.  Text,  •  Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord.'  Had  a  good  time  and  didn't  preach  very 
long.     So  much  for  the  preachings. 

"  1  am  to  go  with  Mr.  Livermore  walking  to-day,  to  see  the 
college  on  the  other  hill— to  see  some  of  its  people— and  its 
cabinets.     It  is  a  pleasant  day." 

Year  by  year,  as  Dr.  Craig  went  in  and  out  among  the 
young  men  of  the  institution,  coming,  as  he  wished,  into 
very  close  and  personal  touch  with  them,  his  influence 
over  them  deepened  and  he  was  able  to  help  shape  the 
life  of  many  a  man  into  the  mould  of  the  IMaster.  Others 
than  the  students  in  his  classes  were  attracted  to  his  lec- 
tures. Frequently  men  of  wide  reputation  as  preachers 
would  come  to  hear  him.  He  not  only  had  the  ability 
backed  by  a  splendid  scholarship,  of  disclosing  vital 
truths  in  simplicity  and  nobleness,  but  he  had,  at  the 
same  time,  grace  of  language,  a  winning  personality,  a 
charming  method  of  presenting  what  he  had  to  say.  Nor 
was  his  i)resentation  that  of  the  dry-as-dust  theologian, 
musty  and  smelling  of  the  grave-clothes  of  dead  dogmas, 
but  live,  vivid,  picturesque,  vital,  fragrant  as  a  breath  of 
spring,  shot  through  and  through  with  the  brilliant 
threads  of  the  Master^ s  love. 

Now  and  again  as  some  particularly  distressing  fling 
appeared,  he  made  public  answer  to  it  and  in  such  a  way 
that  there  was  no  adequate  answer  to  his  answer.     The 


' 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFORD      297 

fferald  of  Gospel  Liberty,  the  denominational  paper  of  the 
Christians,  contained  a  paragraph  to  the  eff-ect  that  a 
minister  who  had  been  a  pastor  of  a  Christian  church 
had  begun  ministering  to  a  Unitarian  church,  noting 
that  he  was  a  graduate  of  Meadville  Seminary  and  that 
*'the  reader  may  draw  his  own  inferences."  To  this 
Dr.  Craig  replied,  applying  logic  to  the  '* inference"  to 
show  that  it  was  by  no  means  necessary  to  believe  that 
the  man  went  to  the  Unitarian  church  because  of  Mead- 
ville and  then  adds : 

**But  the  reader  whose  denominational  antipathies  are  active 
who  in  every  heap  of  Unitarian  Meal  sees  a  Cat  watching  her 
opportunity  to  pounce  upon  our  unsuspecting  Mice,  will  find 
the  premises  already  given,  quite  sufficient  for  <  his  own  infer- 
ences       He  has  only  to  fall  back  upon  his  self-evident  proposi- 
tion that,  no  '  Christian  '  pastor  ought  to  go  a  ministering  to  a 
'Unitarian  Society.'     True,  a  'Christian  '  minister  may  go  '  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,'— may  go 
and  preach  to  Mahometans,  to  cannibals,  and  to  Hottentots; 
but  he  must  not  go  a  ministering  to  a  society  of  Unitarians  : 
that  is  simply  going  to  the  Bad.     Therefore,  how  pestiferous 
must   that  'Meadville'  be,   which  does  not  inspire  even  its 
Christian    graduates  with  a  horror  of  the  Unitarians  ' 
"  There  are  inferences  of  Jaundice,  which  are  not  good  ; 
there  are  inferences  of  Logic,  which  are  better;  there  are  in- 
ferences  of  Charity,  which  are  best  of  all.     The  premises  given 

in  the  case  of  our  Rev.  Mr.  A do  not  forbid  to  infer  that 

he  left  the  Christian  church  in  B ,  cherishing  all  kindly 

feelings  towards  them,  while  they  also  retained  their  old  respect 
and  affection  for  him  :-that  he  went  to  the  Unitarian  Society 

^^.  ^- >  ^"   the  spirit  of  a  Christian  minister,  desiring  the 

salvation,  and  the  upbuilding  in  holy  things,  of  the  flock.  If 
he  truly  went  in  that  spirit,  may  the  Gracious  Master  abun- 
dantly bless  him  and  his  ministry  !  " 

Perhaps  in  no  way  may  the  influence  of  the  work  of 
Dr.  Craig  at  Meadville,  and  its  scope,  be  better  shown 
than  in  the  following  from  the  Rev.  S.  S.  :N"ewhouse,  D.  D., 
of  Lima,  Ohio,  who  was  a  student  under  Dr.  Craig  : 


J 


ItfUi^ 


if 


298    LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  AUSTlxX  CliAIG 

"Dr.  Craig's  lectures  were  of  the  nature  of  a  profound  ex- 
position, from  the  original  text,  of  portions  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment—chitfly  of  the  Fourth  Gos|)el.  Though  delivered  to  the 
outgoing  cla:.s,  his  lectures  were  always  largely  attended  by 
otliers — students,  citizens,  visitors  and  resident  professors,  in- 
cluding his  great  admirer  and  personal  friend.  Dr.  A.  A.  Liver- 
more,  the  president,  'ilie  writer  well  remembers  one  occasion, 
when  among  the  visitors  present  were  three  eminent  divines 
and  authors,  of  the  Unitarian  body, — Rev.  James  Freeman 
Clarke,  D.  D.,  of  Boston  ;  Rev.  Henry  W.  Bellows,  D.  D.,  of 
New  York;  and  Rev.  William  G.  Eliot,  D.  D.,  of  St.  Louis. 
These  men  sat  with  manifest  fascination  under  the  mild  but 
magical  eloquence  of  the  profound  teacher  in  the  deep  things 
of  life  as  revealed  in  the  original  text  of  our  Lord's  words,  and 
l)assing  out  were  heard  to  speak  in  terms  of  wonderment  and 
high  api)reciation. 

"Dr.  Craig's  work  at  the  Mcadville  Theological  School 
terminated  with  his  acceptance  of  the  presidency  of  the  Chris- 
tian Biblical  Institute  at  Eddytown,  New  York,  in  the  autumn 
of  1869.  At  the  head  of  this  Bible  School,  and  as  its  first 
president,  Dr.  Craig  spent  the  later  years  of  his  life  in  his 
favourite  employment  as  teacher  of  teachers  of  the  Word  and 
the  divine  art  of  preaching. 

"The  deep  and  clear  perception  of  revealed  truth,  the  en- 
larged view  of  life,  the  charming  presentation  of  the  character 
and  mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  simple  but  logical  unfold- 
ing of  the  divine  method  of  human  redemption  that  this  unique 
expounder  of  the  Gospel  imj)arted  to  those  who  were  favoured 
with  his  instruction,  were  a  great  spiritual  uplift  and  enlarge- 
ment of  vision  of  human  life  and  destiny  to  them. 

"The  impression  made  by  his  gentle  personality  and  sim- 
plicity of  manner  added  to  the  truth  he  so  beautifully  portrayed. 
He  never  failed,  though  as  unassuming  as  a  child,  to  imi)ress 
his  pupils  as  being,  in  the  gifts  of  his  nature,  and  by  the  endow- 
ments of  grace,  among  the  eminent  sons  of  God,  challenging 
admiration  and  imitation.  Such  was  his  power  over  young 
men  preparing  for  the  Christian  ministry  that,  in  many  in- 
stances, he  was  unconsciously  copied  in  the  tone  and  manner 
of  his  address. 

"  He  was  a  rare  man,  possessing  qualities  of  nature  alto- 
gether out  of  the  ordinary.  By  contact  with  him  one  quickly 
learned  that  he  was  possessed  of  that  type  of  dignity  which  al- 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFOKD 


299 


ways  mspires  admiration  and  sincerest  respect,  and  which  be- 
gets the  feehng  that  one  is  in  the  presence  of  an  elite  spirit  of 
his  race.  Li  his  habitual  action  he  revealed  the  traits  of  a 
noble  sou  .  Jn  his  bearing  as  well  as  in  his  conduct  he  showed 
himself  the  singularly  beautiful  character  that  he  was— thus 
making  his  teaching  the  more  impressive  and  effectual  by  its 
illustration  m  his  luminous  Christian  life. 

"  Dr  Craig  was  a  Christian  gentleman,  not  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  these  words,  but  in  that  profounder  sense  in  which  the 
soul  continuously  and  increasingly  lives  in  Christ.  His  life  was 
so  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  that  his  walk  and  conversa- 
tion were  an  epistle  of  the  grace  of  Christ  to  all  who  came 
withm  the  range  of  his  influence. 

"In  his  daily  movements  he  convincingly  expressed  the 
reality  of  the  religion  he  believed  and  taught.  Not  more  by 
what  he  said  than  by  what  he  was  in  his  daily  life— the  same 
guileless,  genial  Christian  soul— did  he  certify  the  truth  of  the 
saying :  *  Fhe  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth.' 

"Dr.  Craig  lives  not  only  in  the  memory  of  many  men  who 
sat  under  his  forceful  and  profound  instruction  at  Meadville 
but  also  in  their  characters  and  life-work,  for  he  left  an  abid- 

mmdT' Hislfl''""^'  'n'  "'  ''^  '^'''  ^^^^  '"^^^  hearts  and 
ocome      s„.h       ""'  '"'^^  Perpetuate  itself  in  the  generations 
to  come.     Such  a  man  can  never  die." 


In  the  year  1868,  when  Dr.  Craig  had  completed  his 
work  at  Antioch  aud  while  waiting  for  the  opeuiugof  the 
projected  Christian  Biblical  Institute,  he  accepted  a  call 
to  the  pulpit  of  the  North   Christian  Church,  of  New 
Bedford,   Massachusetts.      It  was    the    most  important 
Chnstian  church  in  New  England,  with  a  large,   well- 
equipped  house  of  worship,  with  ample  means  at  disposal 
for  the  successful  carrying  forward  of  the  work,  and  with 
■^  large,  well  organized  and  enthusiastic  society.     Here 
Ur    Craig  preached  for  a  year,  preached  witji  all  the 
added  power  that  came  with  his  ripening  years.    The 
congregation  was  hearty  in  its  support,  earnest  in  service 
appreciative  of  the  talent  and  power  of  their  preacher' 


■k 


300    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CKAIG 

Here  Dr.  Cruig  set  a  new  staiulard  for  himself.  His  ser- 
mons grew  in  depth  and  breadth  ;  his  splendid  schohir- 
ship,  always  with  him  a  matter  of  progress,  brought  out 
the  old  truths  with  new  and  original  force  ;  he  was 
singularly  effective.  Crowds  packed  the  church.  The 
newsi)apers  contained  appreciative  reports  of  his  sermons. 
The  reputation  of  the  preacher  both  as  a  man  in  the  pul- 
pit and  as  a  man  on  the  street  among  men  si)read  beyond 
his  own  congregation,  for  those  of  other  denominations 
recognized  in  him  not  only  the  winsomeuess  of  the  man 
but  the  spirit  of  the  Master. 

*'  I  have  always  understood  the  position  of  the  Christian  con- 
nexion," he  says  in  writing  at  this  time  to  a  friend,  "  to  be  that 
we  fellowship  the  Christian  heart  in  all;  leaving  the  head  of 
the  Christian,  in  any  particular  case,  to  be  flat,  broad,  or  round 
as  the  case  may  be.  If  any  man  gives  us  evidence  that  he  has 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  we  do  not  trouble  ourselves  (at  any  rate, 
we  do  not  trouble  ///w)  about  his  theological  opinions.  He 
may  be  Trinitarian  or  Unitarian,  Calvinist,  Armenian,  or 
Universalist;  yet,  if  he  has  the  spirit  of  Christ,  that  is  all  we 
require  in  order  to  our  fellowship.  This,  as  I  have  always  sup- 
posed, is  the  position  of  the  Christian  connexion.  At  any  rate 
it  is  my  position." 

*'  Now  I  do  heartily  believe,  and  always  have  believed,"  he 
says  to  another  friend  in  a  letter  which  well  illustrates  his 
catholicity  of  view  of  the  Bilile  as  a  book,  "  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures to  be  one  only  and  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
And  that  the  Bible  contains  a  Revelation  from  God,  I  feel  as 
sure  of,  as  of  anything  known  by  faith  and  not  by  sight.  But 
there  is  in  the  Bible,  as  there  was  in  the  living  word  Himself,  a 
human  element,  as  well  as  a  divine.  To  revere  the  Bible  for 
the  Divine  Truth  which  is  divinely  given  in  it,  is  our  wisdom 
and  duty.  But  to  worship  the  letter,  is  possible  (as  history 
shows),  though  not  beneficial. 

"Oh,  what  an  outcry  was  raised  about  three  centuries  ago 
when  Reuchlin  appealed  from  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  to  the  Hebrew  Originals ;  and  when  he  showed  that 
the  Hebrew  manuscripts  differed  among  themselves—had  multi- 
tudes of  *  various  readings  '  as  the  modern  terra  is  !     Before 


Nokiii  (  iiKisriAN  cnrKCH 

New   lleclnid,  Massachusetts 


IN'rKKIoK  OF   NORTH  CHRISTIAN 

V  IUKCH 


MEADVILLE  AND  NEW  BEDFORD      301 

that  time,  the  millions  of  Western  Christendom  rested  in  the 
notion  that  everywhere,  all  the  manuscripts  of  the  Scriptures 
rt   tW  f  P'''''!f  •    ^y  '^^  superintending  Provide.L  of 
o%e  SWT/Sl'"  '"^'y  "^--'P'  -^  'he  exact  copy 
•'  But  men-(good  men  in  many  ages)_have  regarded  the 
B.ble  w.th  superstitious,  or  ignorant,  reverence.     Should  ti^ey 
not  be  taught  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly  ?     If  in  one 
age  men  believe  too  much,  and  make  a  merit  of  holding  to  their 
excess  of  belief,  another  age  will  surely  come  when  th?  Law  of 
Reac  ion  in  our  mental  constitution  will  swing  them  over  into 
-at  least  temporary-belief  of  too  little.     If  one  should  deny 
he  Divine  element  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  would  be  to 
•  unchain  the  riger  •  :  but,  if  one  should  reverently  attempt  the 

te  (as  1  think)  a  meritorious  work   of  Christian   instruction 

w^A%"'^"^^  %  ^"-^  °f  Bethlehem,  so  as  to  quicken  all  the 
childlikeness  within  us,  would  be  piety  and  duty  ;  but  to  go  to 
worshipping  the  Swaddling  Clothes  in  which  the  Heavenly 
Babe  was  wrapped,  would  be  a  superstitious  adoration  of  relics 
into  which,  in  fact,  millions  of  Christians  have  fallen  The 
question  concerning  Luke's  Gospel  with  me  is  this:  '  What 
does  Luke  himself  say  concerning  the  origin  of  his  Gospel  ? 
An,l  the  answer  is-not  as  our  English  erroneou.sly  has  it  (Luke 
I  ■  3).  but  as  Luke's  own  (Jreek  gives  the  idea-that  he  ac- 
curately traced   up   everything   to   the  original  source  of  ^he 

asT"refuuT'H-  ^'''  ''°''T  '«  hav^-ritten^:  history' 
Ann  f  '^^'•u't  Of  historic  research.  His  authority  was  the 
Apostles,_and  there  the  authority  of  his  book  is  to  be  found 

is  historical!  """'"^  '^  %^l"'''''"  """'''''  ^"^^  '^at  his  record 
s  historically  accurate,  I  have  satisfactory  reasons  for  believ- 
ing.     Ihat  he  wrote  as  a  mere  penman  of  the  spirit  of  God 
wming  down  what  the  moving  spirit  gave  him  to  say    as  S 
i  iXTn^'.''^'  Pn°"^''  "ho  come  to  us  with  their VqC 

Lull  hi        If  '  ^~^u  'h^'  ''  '°  •^"""■^'■y  ('"  "^y  view)  to  what 
Luke  himself  says,  that  I  frankly  say,  I  am  not  able  to  believe 

his't'n^vl^f  !h^°'P^'-''  '°  ""^  ^  critically-prepared  and  accurate 
teach/r  [  ^u"°"'  'T-'^'  '""^  "fe  of  our  Lord  and  divine 
ne«  I;/h  !'u^'"'"'-.  ^"'^  '"  "'■'^'  l"spira.ion  dwelt  in  all  full- 
our  La    ^Yu'^-^        ""^  °'"'  ^"^^  "'"  ^^"h.  and  His  command 


Il 


302    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

How  this  many-sided  man  wou  men  to  Mm  aud  lield 
them  fiust  in  his  friendship  may  be  seen  in  a  thousand 
ways,  such,  for  examjiJe,  as  this  fragment  of  a  letter  : 

**It  gave  me  great  pleasure  yesterday  to  find  at  the  post - 
oflfice  your  good  letter  of  the  4th  instant.  Your  letters  arc 
very  interesting  to  me.  I  never  saw  you,  and  yet  I  seem  to 
know  you  intimately.  And  the  secret  of  our  mutual  knowl 
tdge  and  affection  is,  that  we,  both,  love  a  Person  whom 
neither  of  us  has  ever  seen.  And  He  has  made  it  possible  to 
His  friends  to  love  without  sight ;— He  has  broken  down  all 
separating  walls,  making  His  friends  one  in  Himself ;  and  He 
has  abolished  the  Ocean  and  the  Mountains,— and  Time  itself, 
almost, — that  words  of  Christian  love  might  have  free  course^ 
and  run  very  quickly  from  heart  to  heart  throughout  the  world.' 
1  have  friends  of  my  own  personal  winning,  and  dear  are  the 
form  and  eye  and  voice  of  such.  Other  friends  have  I,  of 
whom  I  must  say— Jesus  won  them  for  me :  and  dear  and  pre- 
cious from  such  have  been  to  me  the  Epistles  which  His  loving 
spirit  impelled  and  filled." 

While  it  was  believed  on  all  sides  that  Dr.  Craig  was 
to  be  the  first  president  of  the  Cliristian  Biblical  Institute 
now  rapidly  uearing  the  point  where  a  i)resident  must  l)e 
installed,  Dr.  Craig  was  not  so  sure  as  the  others  that  it 
was  for  the  l>est  that  he  take  the  position.  In  a  long  let- 
ter to  one  of  those  in  authority  written  from  New  Bed- 
ford in  April,  18G9,  he  suggests  that  possibly  there  might 
not  be  full  sympathy  with  him  on  the  part  of  all  the 
members  of  the  denomination.  He  urged  that  the  board 
of  trustees  make  a  most  searching  test  of  the  matter  and 
Jiscertain  whether  or  not  he  was  the  unanimous  clioice  of 
the  denomination  for  the  position.  Regarding  his  own 
personal  wishes  and  comfort  he  said  : 

"Try  to  realize  my  condition,  dear  brother.— Here  I  find 
myself  unexpectedly  (as  if  the  lord's  own  hand  had  brought 
it  all  about), — where  I  have  ample  work,  most  undeserved  fuU- 


MEADVILLE  AND  NE^y  BEDFORD      303 

ness  of  personal  affection,— and  better  still    f„n««o      r 

tion  to  the  Word.     Then  for  the  fir.  H       }  T  ""^  ^"^"■ 

T  n    1  ./        '     ^  ^"^  "^^^  ^ime  during  the  asf  <;#»v#.n 

to  payoff  the  cieb.  whfch  Tht'e 'S  LS  ^eaS' htS 
b  ought  upon  me  and  those  removals,  and  to  p  ovWe  for  the 
litUe  flock  that  ,s  growing  up  in  my  own  househoW  I  hate 
not  saui  one  word  about  compensation  of  services  here  Ixcent 
in  answer  to  their  statement  at  first  that  '  if  «,  !  '         P' 

not   enough    they   could    pay    me    mo  e '     ^''^Z  ^thl:'' 
enough.-     But  I  so  often  have  huus  thatafumshe^  house  reni' 
free   could    be   expected    here,   if  I  would  stay,-,hat    I  feeJ 
tempted  •  perhaps.     I  have  said  nothing  in  reply  to  all  this 

seemTeellS  a^u^n  '''  '°  ™^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  '^^  -y 

ou;  Sththooi  ts  t-^'o-'iTLn^  n'^^^-r^) 

salary  that    my  wants   requ  re    I  ^eel    ^        "^'^  '^^  '^'^e 
hindrance  to  my  choice."  *"  uiicertainty  and 

In  (he  spring  of  the  a-ime  year  he  wrote  to  a  friend  • 
'I  am  happtly  situated  here.  I  have  .ever  beenTore 
sal-sfied  w.th  my  ministerial  relations  and  work  thlT 

I5i.t  all  things  were  shaping  themselves  for  the  still 

r;  ieh  lT""rK^'  ^"'^  «'-°^  «-  Of  mutual  a  Je" 
iZ  Siford  K    ^*^""°  ^'"'^'^'f  ^""^  the  church  of 

fir.t  ^  f    '  T^  '"■*"'^"  "^  h«  *'^^'°«  the  bead  of  the 

meoiogy,  but  that  did  teach  the  Word  of  God. 


J . 


I 


XVI 

THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE 

DR.  CRAIG   was  not   only  in  the  noblest  and 
t<?nden>st  sense  of  the  words  a  winsome  man, 
not  oiilv  one  who  caught  and  held  and  reflected 
more  of  the  divine  light  of  love  than  is  the  portion  of 
most  mortals,  but  he  pofaessed  a  strong,  viiile  character 
an  earnestness  of  purpose,  a  consistent  persistency,  if  we 
may  so  use  the  words,  in  accomplishing  whatsoever  he 
set  his  hand  to  do.     It  mattered  not  if  the  thing  to  be 
attained  stood  miles  ahead  on  the  journey ;  it  mattered 
not  if  he  s;iw  plainly  it  would  Ik;  years  before  the  plan 
would  Iks  ripe  for  the  harvesting,  he  kept  steadily  onward 
with  one  undcviatiiig  purpose  that  could  not  be  thwarted 
until  the  end  was  accomplished.     He  wasa  living  illustra- 
tion,  among  many  other  things,  of  the  fact,  at  least  so 
maintained  by  some,  that  genius  is  eternal  perseverance. 
He  was  shrewdly  alive  to  the  futility  of  pressing  unduly 
for  a  point  at  an  inopportune  time,  but,  however  neces- 
sary strategic  delays,  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  line  of 
main  advance,  and,  concentrating  all  his  forces,  pressed 
forward  irresistibly. 

For  many  years  he  had  believed  that  there  could  be  no 
large  success  among  the  churches  of  the  Christian  con- 
nexion or  better  put,  no  wide-spread  success  among  its 
piustors,  until  they  had  a  school  for  preacher-training,— 
pastor-training  were  nearer  his  thought.  For  years  he 
Studied  the  problem  from  all  points  of  view.  He  took 
account  of  the  failure  of  other  institutions  for  the  train- 
ing of  men  to  preach  the  Word  of  God,  and  made  plans 

304 


THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE    305 

for  an  institution  which  should  avoid  the  errora  of  the 
piist  and  present  and  be  the  means  of  sending  men  out 
into  the  world  fully  equipped  in  such  things  as  his  aeute 
mind  told  him  were  the  essentials,  stripped  clean  of  the 
impedimenta  of  dogma  and  tenet  and  creed  and  all  the 
theological  rubbish  which  men  were  wont  to  load  upon 
the  b..nt  backs  of  those  who  sliouKl  have  been  stalwart 
and  Iree.     He  laid  his  plans  broad  and  di«p  for  a  school 
where  the  Bible  should  be  taught  on  each  day   theology 
on  no  day.     His  idea  was  not,  on  the  other  hand,  merely 
to  cram  young  men  with  passages  of  Scripture  and  then 
set  them  adrift,  fitted  for  a  low  form  of  immature  evangel- 
ism.    And  yet,  at  the  .siime  time,  while  he  would  provide 
them  with  all  available  inf.,rination  regarding  current 
uiKl  historic  cn-eds  and  faiths,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  well  rounded  out  in  their  chosen  field  and  ready   if 
needs  be,  to  answer  intelligently  on  ow^usion  those  who 
might  strive  to  mislead  or  perplex,  he  would  make  the 
chief  equipment  actual,  intimate,  personal  knowledge  of 
the  writings  of  the  Ol.l  and  New  Testaments.     Where 
po.ssible  he  woul.l  have  the  students  expert  in  the  original 
texts  of  the  Scriptures;  where  this  was  not  possible,  he 
would  place  before  them  the  best  that  man  had  made  in 
t.e   way  of   Bible  aids-discussions  of  obscure  texts; 
ilhimination  of  well-known  but  misstated  passages;  the 
test  of  concordances  and  text-books ;    and  all  the  in- 
strumentalities of  man   helpful  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
vital  thought  of  the  Word. 

Above  all  else  he  would  teach  in  such  a  school  the 
simple  faith  of  Christ,  above  all  he  would  shun  even  the 
shadow  of  denominationalism.     In  two  letters  written  in 

sio7      m'"™""""'  ''"■'  ^^''^  '■"  '^"^  '*''•  that  just  such  a 
^<  hool  as  this  was  to  be  established  and  when  he  came  to 

near  from  various  sources  that  as  soon  as  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  Christian  Biblical  Institute  were  in  proper 


30G    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


shape  fiuancially,  he  would  be  called  to  its  head,  lie  used 
these  words,  beariug  on  the  question  of  denominational- 
ism  : 

"  I  love  the  *  Christian  '  principles  (if  I  understand  them) 
but  1  will  not  commit  myself  to  any  local  prejudices  existing 
among  portions  of  our  bretlirtn  whether  at  the  East,  or  in  the 
West.  Moreover,  as  I  joined  the  •  Cliristian  Connexion  '  be- 
fore the  word  '  denominational '  came  into  vogue  among  us,  1 
do  not  consider  myself  as  belonging  to  that  word.  It  is  to  me 
a  disagreeable  word.  I  like  tlie  name  Christian  far  better. 
That  name  expresses  all  I  have  ever  desired  to  be. — Moreover, 
I  like  the  name  '  Christian  '  best,  in  its  widest  sense.  I  deny 
in  toto  that  any  little  connexion  of  one  or  two  hundred  thou- 
sand people,  is  '  the  Christian  Church.'  It  is  an  insufferable 
arrogance,  m  my  view,  for  us  to  style  ourselves  so. 

''Still   further,  1   believe  in   cooperation,— in   fellowship  in 
spiru    and    m    work— with    any    people    of    the    Lord    who 
wish— or    are   willing— to   work    with    us    for    Christian    ob- 
jects.     I  have  no  fear  of  being  swallowed  up  by  any  Christian 
people.     And    I  think   it   entirely  consonant— both   with    the 
spirit  of  Christ   (which  is  the  chief  thing),  and  with  the  pro- 
•  fessed   princii)les  of  our  platform,— to  extend  Christian  fellow- 
ship, and  to  cooperate  in  Christian  work,  to  all— and  with  all, 
who  for  our  Lord's  sake  seek  it.— 1  i)reach  wherever  I  find  an 
opening.     Within    the    last    two  months   I   have  preached  in 
churches    of    the    'diristian,'   the   Methodist   Episcopal,   the 
Unitarian,  and  the  Universalist,  denominations.     My  first  aim 
(I  do  devoutly  hope)   in  preaching  anywhere,  is  to  bring  men 
to  Christ.      1  am  sure  that  my  great  object  is  not  to  set  forth 
denominationalism   of  any  kind.      I  preach  out  of  an  unde- 
nominational Hible,  and   I  preach  an  undenominational  Lord; 
for  though    He  is  (as  I  trust)  ^//r  Lord,  I  remember  that  Paul 
said,  *  both  //leirs  and  ours.'     And  so,  as  we  hold  our  Saviour 
m  co-partnership  with  all  who  love  Him  in  sincerity,  I  am  will- 
nig  to  be  counted  as  a  partner  in  any  good  word  and  work  by 
any  good   man— whether  of  '  our  denomination,'  or  of  no  de- 
nomination at  all." 

"I  could  wish,"  in  the  second  letter,  ''that  some  of  our 
brethren  (who  I  think  hold  a  denominationalism  not  so  free  as 
yours)  would  talk  less  about  '  our  denomination  '  and  more 
about  the  work  of  Christ. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE    307 

-  How  strange  it  is  !     Some  of  our  brethren  have  their  eyes 
turned  back  to  the  days  when  our  pioneers  were  clearing  away 
the  rubbish-the  Mns  of  the  outworn  creeds-preparatory  to 
building  anew  m  grander  proportions  the  temple  of  the  Lord 
It  was  a  needful  work  in  its  day,  and  well  done 

-  But  now  some  of  our  brethren  think  all  our  trouble  Tour 
denomination  s  trouble)  arises  from  the  neglect  of  our  preachers 
to  pitch  into  the  rrinity  as  they  used  to.  They  don't  seem  to 
realize  that  after  the  pulling  down  has  gone  on  far  enough  to 
give  a  fair  field,  there  must  be  work  of  another  sort  done  that 
instead  of  pulling  down  forever,  we  must  sometimes  '  arise  and 

build   -Good  brother ,    a   very  good  man,    favoured 

us   through   the    Gosp,/  Herald  some  months  ago,   with  his 
judgment  that  our  ministers  could  not  advance  the  cause  of 
God  until  they  contended  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered 
etc— that  IS,  until  they  banged  away  at  the  'sects  '  after  the 
olden  time,  and  pelted  the  Trinity. 

*'  I  think  our  denomination  (or  any  other  man's)  can  put  the 

u'?f  1  u  c  ^""i  ^^"^'  "'^  ^^^"  ^^  ^hop  it  up  into  doctrinal 
shilialahs,    for   knocking   out    the    theological    brains   of    the 

Irinitarians  The  minister  most  needed  now  in  our  day— Tin 
my  opinion)  is  not  the  smart  debater  and  victorious^n- 
troversiahst  but  the  man  who  somehow  makes  people  think 
admiringly  and  adoringly  of  our  Jesus." 

In  another  letter  written  a  month  or  two  later  to  a 
prominent  preacher  of  the  denomination  he  says  : 

-You  ask  me,  'What  stronger  incentives  to  virtue,  or  mo- 
tives to  Christian  obedience,  are  found  in  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  Scriptures,  than  in  our  English  version  ?  '-That  is  not 

lr^,r' Rh  ""^^^  r^V  ^^^'  '''  ^^  y^"  ^^'^  ^  Catholic  with 
your  Rheimish  New  testament  for  Douay  Bible)  in  hand — 
you  might  ask  me  the  same  question  respecting  that  translation 
01  a  translation.  And  yet,  among  translations,  a  better  is  for 
some  reasons  preferable  to  an  inferior  one.  What  '  stronger 
incentives  to  virtue  '  etc.,-you  might  put  in  this  form :  Are 
there^  fewer  blemishes,  defects,  marrings  or  distortions  of  the 
simit  s  meaning  in  the  English  '  Common  Bible,'  than  in  the 
uouay  Bible  ?  The  earnest  soul  can  find  the  living  water  in 
Doth  of  them;— or,  say,  in  the  poorest  translation  ever  made. 
wny,  then,  study  the  original  Scriptures  at  all? 


Ql 


"J  1 


r./ 


308     LIFE  ,A\I)  LKTTEltS  OF  ACSTIN  CRAIG 

"But,  brollicr,  we  live   in  a.rilical  ace— si)c(  uhiiv^   .t 
tual,  perhaps ;-,vewa„t  n...  nuxHy  ,,  opl.e.s^™^^^ 
hearts,  but  also  tea,:|,crs  U.  deal  wi,h    ne^    per  1"  tus     l     " 
nus„.s   ami  the  like   an,I  chieliy-.o  take  Z     1  ■   „:  VnV.'e 
way.     One  rea.is  ,„  his  '  iC.glish  '  translation  that  -  the  1  ve  „f 
money  .s  the  r„.,t  of  all  ev,l.-     (.  Ti,„.  6  :  ,o  )     No   he  vws 
Pan  lis  mistaken:  sensuali.y,  pri.le.  are  roots  of  some  evil  ! 
the  love  of  money  is  not  '///^  r<x,l  of,,//  evil  •     H,,f  ' 

looks  into  the  Greek,  an.l   Hn.ls  i-.ull  W  K  convey  nTZ 

"o,  ed  "a   ea.7v  n,  "  '""'  °^  "'^  ''"  '""'^-'-'amely  ,h4e  men- 
uonui  already  m  verse  nine  preceding." 

In  passing  on,.  „,„.  „„f  f„.,  ,„  „„,,.  .__  ^,_^  ^^^ 

U>  warm  l.„n,s,.|f,  a„,l  Mu;s,  at  the  genial  l,J.,.h  of  In, 

"""•••     I"  a  letter  writU-n  at  this  period  ihl.s  «„d.s„„ai„t 
111  list  ration.     Hj»  wi«  wt.;*;....   *i       i  n 
f ....!..  ^^ntmg   the   letter   ou   ji  railroad 

II  (1111. 

of  oLryork"?  "■°"'  ^I---«a,"-he  writes,  ."oldest  town 

nr.<:.\       M  1   '■'.""o.  oy  iNaMum  v\  ard, — now  m  p bry  fas  I  sun- 
pose)       Nahntn  was  a  prophet.  an<l  wishe.l  the  tcstinionv  of  the 

o    re     "'■'""'>  f°"-k"<»vn  of  men  as  William  S.  Ward,  es- 
<l>"re,— ,s  the  pdlar  fan.l  steeple)  of  that  church      William  S 
Mipermtends    the   Sunday-school  ;     his   good    wife  Ve  cheV^ 

the  s^hoo   ye^er  nor  m.  F     '  ""'  7"  "'^'^'y  «'  ''"l^^**  ^' 

in    ih-     ^    .   niorning.  I-nie  rooms  for  the  Sunday-school 
—in   the  church  basement.     Now  co  im-stiirs      Who,      r 
room  for  nrew-l.in^  o.,  i  i-        ''!  "P -^'airs.      What  a  fine 

for  60^0/700  heie       '7^!  "'  ^''''  ^'''  '     ^^"^  ^ere 
very  lar^e  nirn.r^  i  ^"'^^^  ''P^^^'^^^  ^^^  entrance,  with  a 

very  large  picture  over  the  m  nister's  heid    f^f  r\  .-  .  ■ 

over  Jerusalem.-Not  very  su^l^^^^^^^^  of  Christ  vveeping 

mens,  that   nicture  f     nJJ  ^"f^^^^'^^.  ^^  ^^ry  themes  for  ser- 
picture  !~Organ  at  the  right  side  of  the  pulpit. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLICxiL  INSTITUTE    309 

People  seem  to  prefer  old-fashioned  tunes,  and  congregational 
sinf,'iiig.  Also,  1  learned  that  they  have  no  prejudice  against  a 
niinisier's  being  a  man  of  piety. 

'♦  Now  the  bell  ceases  its  tolling,  and  the  minister  (your 
friend)  rises  to  the  public  service  of  the  morning.  Sees  about 
sixty  good  people  before  him.— Has  'liberty'  in  prayer  and 
preaching,  and  a  good  time  generally.— 'Ihe  same  at  the  even- 
ing service,   with  an   attendance  of  about  eighty. Preached 

about  loving  Jesus.— Had  good  attention,  earnest  feeling,  and 
(a|)i)arenlly)  some  tears.  Notice  of  the  preaching  had  been 
wiiiiheld  until  after  my  arrival  Saturday  evening.  Therefore 
some  of  the  customary  attendants  may  not  have  known  of  the 
service.  They  have  no  pastor  now,  but  wish  to  get  one. 
They  would  welcome  a  good  man  heartily;  pay  him  at  first 
say  58oo  a  year;  and  give  him  what  seems  a  good  chance  to 
work  and  grow — and  do  still  better." 

Id  November,  1809,  he  prepared  for  the  Gospel  Herald 
an  exhaustive  pap<^r  on  the  proposed  school,  outlining 
his  thought  as  to  its  i)lan.  The  paper  wtis  packed  with 
sc^iisible  advice,  and  no  doubt  it  had  a  marked  influence 
on  those  who  were  to  shape  the  school  into  form.  ''The 
immediate  locality  of  the  Biblical  School, '»  he  said, 
''should  be  a  quiet,  still,  secluded  spot ;  yet  near  enough 
to  one  of  our  great  thoroughfares  to  be  conveniently  ac- 
cessible to  all  who  may  wish  to  come.  It  might  be  well 
for  the  school  to  be  near  a  good  cla^ssical  and  scientific 
school ;  yet  not  so  near  as  to  be  in  the  same  building  ; 
hardly,  even,  in  the  same  twenty-acre  enclosure.  The 
young  prophets  must  have  silence  ! '' 

He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  some  sort  of  manual 
labour  for  the  pupils  and  among  his  recommendations 
was  one  that  it  might  be  well  to  have  the  institute  lo- 
cated on  a  small  farm.  "Sweating  from  labour  in  the 
open  air,^'  he  said,  *'is,  if  taken  in  moderation,  the  best 
preparation  for  mental  effort,  and  the  one  thing  upon 
which  the  Biblical  School  must  rely  as  its  safeguard 
against  rearing  a  race  of  nerveless  dyspeptics.  ^^     He  laid 


'i' 


310    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CKAIU 

SfshT,u?'''\"'^'"  ''''  P"'"^  *^^*  *"«tructio„  iu  the 
stliool  should  embrace  training  for  preachinimn.i  fJ 

for  paatoral  work.     He  took 'occa^'irntatf  J^l^i'T^ 
points  words  on  the  support  of  the  p^poid  ^      " 

"Many  of  the  churches  of  the  Chri.fJ.n   r 
said,  «'are  to  dav  m.ff^rj..^  1     ^     ^nnstian   Connexion,"  he 

iH.bera,ity  m  ttr^^^S  ^'^2  '='^1"^  ""^  ^  ^''-- 
of  our  country  the  people  know,  T  %^  '°'"f  """"'""^ 
wealthy.  But  there  aVmher  ° /,  o'  of  ^r"""'  '""^  "°' 
haps  in  the  East,  as  well  as  at^hl  vv  .  K  '^ountry-per- 
tian  societies  are  very  weLhhv  ^Vest.-where  the  Chris- 

considering  how  smaT^  rprop^;7on"ofrh?"''  ""rf)"'  '""'''''• 
the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel  T.''"'  ^''"^  "^^  ^"^ 

churches  of  our  conneyinn  ,  Ik  '  i  •"     '     .^'^  '^  '"   "'any 

sustain  Christian  ins"i"u,irs  bv  m  1'^  ""«  f'  °^  "'^  ''"'^  '« 
A  portion  of  the  resDonXi^^|'''T  contributions  of  money, 
these  churches  r^s-TsnL  ""'  ""'^"Pl^y  disposition  o'^" 
preachers  in  our  connTxL    T    ~T"P°"    '°"''   °^  'he  early 

Christian  un..ylrcS;'^,ttf"nfix:;;in''.hrT^^.°^^ 
and  anti-scriptural  notion  that  fh/;^      u         ^^^  unchristian 

of  their  ministers  bv  oavU  rK  churches  make  •  hirelings  ' 

their  support      Tha^t  ^unsrHn.    "i  '"^"^"'  '"^"^'^^  sufficient  for 
-cause  (iTaO  of'th      e"ei  C^t^^^^^  ''^  -- 

connexion.     Our  preacher.  HJH  V       ^^^^^lency  of  our 

men's  minds  fromTverence^f^^  T'^  "^  ^^^^"^& 

but   not  a  few  o^our   nTniste^r^^^^^^^ 
hearers   from  their  aforeHr  r    '        "^^  '^'^  ^^"''^^^^^  ^heir 
Trinity,  failed  toLe  nroZ^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^"^^  of  the 

that  ^  6od  loveth  Tche'erf"]  gfver!'  ''        ^'"'^  ^"^^^^^^  ^^^^^^"^ 

nnai  aflairs  and,  with  the  example  of  Antioch  before 
him,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  the  ]f^H^.  e  ^"i  ocn  oeiore 
tracts  are  made  :  ^'  ^'^^  ""^^"^  ^^'^^  ^^' 

builX^f Jrnth'  InT^eJulp':  theoio'^^r^  '"^'^  ^^^^"^  ^^'^^  ^^ 
might  reasonably  deem  ^necessar??^^^^  ^'  ^' 

to  endow  the  inLtution  so^^^lj^^^^  ^^5^- 


THE  CHKISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE    311 

regular  and  preparatory  classes,  might  be  henceforth  assured 
—  lo  secure  these  sums  and   to  erect  the  building,— May  we 
not  suppose  that  it  would  take  us  from  three  to  five  years  ? 

-Meanwhile,  what  should  we  do  for  a  theological  school? 
If  we  content  ourselves  with  something  under  that  name  but 
yet  a  meagre  approach  to  what  we  need,  is  there  not  daWer 
that  the  meagre  and  temporary  substitute  will  become  the  per- 
manent  institution  ?  ^ 

*'lf  our  brethren  should  determine  to  have  a  school  whose 
cost  and  endowment  should  be  at  least  $70,000,  and  to  give 
themselves  five  years  to  do  the  work,  there  is  a  method  by 
which  we  could,  immediately,  have  the  advantages  Hn  great 
measure,  at  least)  of  a  good  school  of  our  own,  and  at  the 
same  tune  be  training  up  two  professors  to  take  their  places— 
with  ripe  experience— in  our  school,  at  the  end  of  the  five  years 

«'lf  our  iNew  York  brethren  would  secure,  say  $1,200,  annu- 
ally for  five  years,  to  make  Brother  Warren  Hathaway  a  pro- 
fessor in  the  Meadville  Theological  School;  and,  if  our  New 
England  brethren  would  secure  an  equal  sum  to  send  some  one 
ot  tlieir  strong  and  qualified  ministers  to  occupy  a  second  pro- 
fessorship at  Meadville;   I  feel  confident  that  the  Meadville 
School  would  in  that  case,  be  very  eligible  to  young  men  of 
ours  desirous  of  preparing  themselves  by  study  for  the  ministry 
I  speak  without  authority,  as  uttering  only  my  private  judg- 
ment in  this  matter;  yet,  I  am  persuaded  that  there  would  be 
no  obstacle  to  such  an  arrangement  as  this,  if  our  brethren  de- 
sired   to   make   the  arrangement.— One    thing   further,   1   am 
moved  to  say.     If  also  our  churches  would  send  to  the  Mead- 
ville School   twelve  or   fifteen   capable  young  men  of  mature 
convictions  and  real  piety,  their  coming  would  be  welcomed  to 
me  school  (I  am  sure)  as  a  happy  accession  to  its  life  and 
power. 

"  Need  it  then  be  feared,  that  we  would  lose  all— professors 
and  students— through  the  superior  attractions  of  another  peo- 
ple/ Ihat  would  depend  upon  ourselves.  It  has  been  said 
that  students  educated  at  Meadville  leave  us,  many  of  then.  • 
while  students  educated  in  the  '  orthodox '  schools  remain  with 

"^*.u  f  "'^^  ^^  ^'■"^-  Certainly,  students  educated  in 
orthodox  seminaries  would  not  be  admitted  to  orthodox 
pastorates,  without  subscribing  to  a  creed;  which  the  Unita- 
rians never  require  our  young  men  to  do.  If  our  people  did 
out  pay  their  ministers  so  that  a  young  man  desirous  of  gain- 


■      < 

m 


312     LIFE  A.\D  LE'ITi:US  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

ing  means  to  improve  himself,  furnish  himself  a  good  lihrarv 
an,l  .levote  all  l„s  ,m,c  ,o  his  work,  conl.l  do  sof  there  would 
be  fevyer  desertions  Iron,  ns.      Until  as  a  ..eonle,  we  learn ^ha 
the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  h.re,  and  learn'  to  pay  mmis ter 
ld.era  ly-aca,rdn,g    to    the.r    nee,ls,_we   shall  'probably   be 
calkHl   upon,  from   time   to   time,  to  chronicle  the  loss  of  our 
young  ministers,  whether  they  go  to  Meadville  or  not." 

At  last  the  (iiue  secm.Ml  rip.,  f,,,-  Uie  foundinir  of  the 
school  which  had  iM^n  th,- <l.eam  of  the  y,ar.s.     Jii  all  (he 
deuom. nation,  now  «,„«•>,  (o  be  a  poweiful  organization 
witli  tar  better  pivaehiiig  e.i.iipmeut  than  it  had  ever  liad 
there  was  but  one  man  to  whom  i>i-aetieally  the  eutir^ 

denommadoi ked  as  tlie  one  best  fittwl  to  Iweome  tlie 

leader  of  the  new  school,  and  that  man  was  Attstii.  CraiK' 
All  the  prelimii,ai,y  work  of  th<,se  wlio  had  been  labotir- 
ing  along  many  lim-s  .•ulminat.-d  at  a  meeting  of  the 
American  Christian  C.nve.Kion  held  in  Man^hall, 
Michigan,  in  Octoter,  18(i<;.  when  by  vote  of  th(>  conven- 
tion It  was  decided  to  establish  a  Christian  Biblical  In- 
stitute. 

In  answer  to  the  solicitations  of  his  friends  to  accept 
the  presKlency  Dr.  Craig  writes  : 

"  You   say  I  •  ought  to   be  willing  that  mv  friends   use  mv 

t"o TeT'the  3r a "'""'  ^"''"1"  ^^oi^ruLzzi 

to  seek   the   place  (I  am  „of  a  candi<late),  nor  do  I  wish  mv 

wishes  and   urge   them,   ,s   not   mine   to  deny):   if  the   olace 

hould  come  to  me  manifestly  as  a  providential  opening  of'^iuty 

what  we  understand  by  a  divine  call)  1  have  only  to  fay     S 

do  ever  hold   myself  ready  to  go  where   I  am  clearly  sent 

concern'irth^^''V  1°  "°/.  '  ^°  ''''  '"^^«'  6^^=^'  «°l-it"de 
D°  ved  ini  .1    ^      *"'  """l  ^°^''  "'^'"^  ^^"'  be  no  tricks  em- 

Fu'ijt;;: "  s:;':^{z:L^z^' '  ^°^^ ''''-"'  ''--- 

doin^  T.fZi\"'f''^:"^  ^°\  "'^'  P'^'^'^'  '"^^  I  '^ou'd  avoid 
doing  anything  which  might  make  me  seem  as  wishing  to  com- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE    313 

mend  myself.  And  ytt,  I  have  decided  convictions  respecting 
what  is  best  for  the  Biblical  School,  and  for  us,  as  entrusted 
with  a  work  for  the  Lord. 

♦'And,  I  feel  sure  that  Brother  s  proposal  to  elect 

both  of  two  certain  persons,  whose  position  and  views  are  known 
(or  supposed)  to  be  incompatible,  would  strike  the  school  with 
palsy  in  its  very  cradle  !  Far  better  (in  my  view)  the  other 
alternative,  proposed  by  Elder  Coffin,  that  is,  elect  neither  of 
them  / 

**  And,  I  wouldn't  elect  anybody  until  two  professorships 
were  fully  endowed.  As  you  write  :  *  Keep  off  the  election 
— at  least  till  we  get  $50,000.'  Give  time  for  counsels  of 
wisdom  and  unity  to  prevail.  *  He  that  believeth  shall  not 
make  haste.'* 

"  Under  ordinary  circumstances  I  would  wish  to  attend  that 
Newark  Convention.  I  have  attended  every  Quadrennial  of 
ours.  But  I  think  I  shall  feel  constrained  to  stay  away  from 
this  meeting  at  Newark.  So  it  seems  to  me  at  present.  Do 
what  is  best  for  the  work  of  the  Lord  ;  pull  no  wires  ;  and  leave 
the  disposal  of  the  matter  to  the  Master  on  high.  Of  one 
thing  I  am  sure  ;  that  /could  not  afford  to  undertake  the  charge 
of  the  proposed  Biblical  School,  without  the  confidence  and 
hearty  support  of  all  (or  nearly  all)  the  working  interests  which 
exist  among  our  brotherhood." 


n 


nil 


"  As  to  your  wishes — in  my  behalf — so  kindly  expressed,  I 
accept  them  thankfully :  yet,  in  so  far  as  my  occupancy  of  the 
place  named  is  concerned,  let  me  repeat  to  you  that  I  could 
feel  free  to  go  thither  to  the  work,  only  on  the  condition  that  a 
very  general  voice  of  our  brethren  should  call  me,  I  will  not 
seek  the  place,  though  I  could  feel  no  little  interest  in  such  a 
work, — if  our  brethren  should  really  judge  that  1  could  serve 
their  Christian  purpose  there. 

'*I  judge  from  what  I  hear  and  read,  that  some  of  our 
brethren  will  hardly  be  satisfied  unless  a  'denominational  'man 
(so  called)  is  chosen  to  the  place.  I,  therefore,  decline  to 
seek  a  place  in  the  school ;  because,  I  suppose,  I  am  not  a 
*  denominational  '  man.  I  wish  to  be  wholly  and  only  '  Chris- 
tian ' ;  and,  as  I  understand  the  olden  time  preachings  of  our 
connexion,  *  Christian  '  is  decidedly  undenominational — in  the 
sense  that  I  suppose  our  writers  who  cherish  the  phrase  intend. 


m% 


If 


f  //^ 


314    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

I  don't  preach  out  of  a  denominational  Bible,  nor  do  I  preach 
a  Saviour  who  is  strictly  dtnoniinational.  It  is  true,  He  is  (as 
I  trust)  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  yet  1  would  remember  that  He 
equally  belongs  to  ail  who  in  every  place  call  upon  Him,  being 
•both  theirs  and  ours.'  You  see,  therefore,  that  I  hold  to 
partnership  in  so  far  as  our  Lord  is  concerned.  And  my 
ministry  is  not  confined  to  «  Christian  '  pulpits.  Let  me  give 
you— as  a  sample— the  report  of  my  preachings  since  the  pres- 
ent summer  began  : 

(i)     June  9.     I  preached  for  Elder  McConnell  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church  in  Yellow  Springs. 
June  10.     Addressed  the  'Band  of  Hope'  in  the  O   S 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Yellow  Springs. 

(2)  June  16  (Sunday).    Preached  in  the  M.  E.  Church  in  Yel- 

low Springs. 

(3)  June   23  (Sunday).     Preached  in  the  Unitarian  Church 

(Mayo's)  in  Cincinnati. 

(4)  Evening  preached  in  your  brother's  church. 

(5)  Ju'y  7  (Sunday).     Attended  Sunday-school,  taught  Bible 

(6)  Class  and  preached  twice  in  the  Universalist  Church  in 
Springfield,  Ohio. 

(7)  July  21   (Sunday).     Taught  Bible  Class,  addressed  the 

Sunday-school   scholars,   and    preached   twice   in  the 
'  Christian  Church  '  in  Miami  City,  O. 


I 


J 


"I  am  glad— and  ready— to  go  anywhere  and  preach  the 
Gospel.     Ihe  subjects  were,  respectively,  these: 


(0 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 
(6) 


'We    must    all    appear    before    the    Judgment-seat    of 

Christ,'  etc.     (2  Cor.  5  :  16.) 
'  Other    foundations   can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid 

which  is  Jesus  Christ.'     (i  Cor.  3  :  n.) 
*To  us  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father,  etc.,  and  one 

Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  are  all  things  and  we  by 

Him.'     (2  Cor.  8:6.)  ^ 

'These    three— Faith,    Hope    and    Charity.'      (i    Cor 

'3:    13-) 
John  21  :  1-14  (preparatory  to  the  evening  service,  which 

evening  service,  was  on  John  21  :  15-17,  '  Lovest  thou 

Me? 


THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE    315 

(7)  *  To   make   all    men   see  what  is   the  fellowship  of  the 

mystery,'  etc.      (Ephesians  3  :  9.) 

(8)  '  Say  not   in   thine  heart,  who  shall   ascend  into  heaven, 

etc.,  the  word  is  nigh  thee/  etc.      (Romans  10  :  6-9.) 

'*  I  am  not  (I  suppose)  *  strictly  denominational '  (are  you  ?) 
but  1  do  wish  and  mean  to  be  strictly  and  broadly  '  Christian.' 
1  have  always  been  connected  with  the  Christian  Connexion- 
feel  more  special  attachment  to  them  than  to  any  other  class  of 
people  ;  want  to  see  them  do  their  own  work  without  asking 
others  for  help  in  this  Biblical  School  enterprise ;  and  would 
willingly  help  all  I  can— if  the  brethren  should  really  and 
generally  wish  my  help,  according  to  your  statement  made  to 
me  in  a  former  letter." 


('! 


Articles  of  incorporation  for  the  new  institution  were 
at  last  prepared,  a  charter  was  granted  by  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  Eddytowu,  Yates  County,  New  York,  was 
chosen  as  the  site  of  the  new  school.  The  aim  of  the  in- 
stitution was  set  forth  in  this  fashion,  *^To  help  the 
students  to  search  the  Scriptures  for  themselves,  with  the 
aids  and  appliances  of  modern  scholarship,  and  to  qualify 
them  for  the  free  and  untrammelled  interpretation  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  according  to  the  individual  conscience, 
without  bias  or  prejudice,  and  to  train  them  to  be  efficient 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.'^ 

It  was  announced  also  at  the  outset  that  there  should  be 
no  charge,  either  for  tuition  or  text-books. 

In  the  by-laws  governing  the  institute  as  adopted  by 
the  convention,  it  was  provided  that  no  person  should  be 
eligible  to,  or  retain  a  professorship  in,  the  institute  un- 
less he  was  not  less  than  thirty  nor  more  than  seventy 
years  old  ;  he  must  be  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church  ; 
must  believe  and  maintain  that  the  entire  Scriptures  are 
**  given  by  inspiration  of  God,^'  and  that  they  are  an  in- 
fallible authority  and  guide  in  all  matters  of  religious 
faith  and  practice. 


1 ' 


li 


;  u 


316     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CUAIG 

The  principles  of  the  institute  preceded  by  a  general 
statement,  were  thus  formulated  at  the  outset : 


r'J 


The  founders  of  this   institution  pray  to  be  in    fellowshio 
with   a     who   love   the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  sympathy 
with  ai    ivho  strive  to  do  good  to  mankind.     They  wish  to  be 
called   (and  to   be)  simply  Christians,     'i'hey   trust   they  are 
one  in  spirit  with  the  friends  of  Christ  in  every  age  and  in 
every   land.     By    the    local    and    special   elements   in    their 
history     the    founders    of   this    institute   are    connected    with 
those  Christians  who,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
came  out  from  the  Methodists  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  • 
from  the  Baptists  in  New  England,  and  from  the  Presbyterians 
in  Kentiicky.      1  hey   preach  the  crucified  and  risen  Saviour, 
and  111  His  name  exhort  all  men  everywhere  to  repent      They 
also  proclaim  as  truths  needing  to  be  particularly  emphasized 
at  the  present  time,  the  following  general  principles : 

I.-— Christ,  the  Head  of  the  Church. 

r?;"~J^*^  ^^b'  Scriptures,  the  only  sure  and  sufficient  Rule 
of  Faith  and  Practice. 

3-— Christian    Character,  the   only    true   test   of  Christian 
rellowship  and  Church  Membership. 
4.— Love,  greater  than  Faith  or  Hope. 

5.— The  Name   "Christian"  the  appropriate  Name  for  the 
followers  of  Christ. 

6.— Private  Judgment,    in  the   interpretation    of  Scripture 
the  privilege  of  all  Christians.  ' 

7-— Congregationalism,    the  mode  of  Church   Government 
best  suited  to  the  Spirit  of  Christianity. 


i« 


* 


Tlie  qualifications  for  applicants  for  admission  to  the 
institute  were  condensed  into  a  very  simple  statement : 
Experimental  piety  and  belief  in  the  Bible.  Natunilly 
all  the  prior  education  possible  to  be  obtained,  all  the 
broadening  and  culture  would  be  looked  upon  as  helps, 
but  no  man  was  to  be  refused  entrance  without  them. 
And  no  man  was  to  be  allowed  admission  under 
Dr.  Craig  who,  recognizing  that  he  was  one  of  the  great 


%■ 


THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE    317 

scholars  of  his  day,  should  seek  to  enter  the  school  for 
the  mere  help  he  would  obtain  in  scholarship  ;— no  man 
was  to  be  made  welcome  who  was  not  avowedly  seeking 
help  to  become  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  or,  if  already 
ordained,  looking  for  aid  to  become  a  more  efficient 
preacher  than  he  could  ever  hope  to  be  without  this 
training. 

On  December  8,  1868,  Dr.  Craig  was  formally  notified 
of  his  unanimous  election  to  the  presidency.'  He  ac- 
knowledged the  notification  in  the  following  letter  to  the 
board  of  trustees  : 


'*  To  Elder  Latham  Coffin,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees  of  the  '  Christian  Biblical  Institute.' 

**  Dear  Brother  : 

'*  I  duly  received  your  kind  letter  of  December  8,  1868, 
otticially  notifying  me  of  my  election  as  « Professor  in,  and 
President  of,  the  Christian  Biblical  Institute,  for  five 
years. '  "^ 

*«  This  mark  of  brotherly  confidence  is  very  precious  to  me  • 
and  the  sacredness  of  the  charge  which  the  trustees  would 
commit  to  me,  I  deeply  feel.  At  a  former  meeting  of  your 
board  (as  your  letter  reminds  me)  '  a  vote  was  passed  that 
professors  accepting  appointments  must  place  thetnselves  on 
the  platform  adopted  in  the  by-laws  of  the  institute. ' 

"This  refers,  of  course,  to  what  is  said  in  the  Sixth  and 
beventh  Articles  of  the  by-laws,  concerning  the  aim  of  the 
instruction  to  be  given  in  the  institute,  and  the  qualifications 
of  the  instructors. 

''AH  that  is  said  concerning  the  aim  of  the  instruction,  I 
heartily  approve.  As  to  the  qualifications,  I  cannot  feel  so 
certain,  and  would  not  speak  so  positively. 

"I  could  willingly  accept  the  post  of  service  to  which  you 
have  elected  me,  provided  it  should  become  manifest  that  our 
connexion  generally  wish  me  to  occupy  the  post.  Should  it 
become  thus  manifest,  and  should  the  institute  enjoy  the  con- 
ndence  and  active  favour  of  all  our  conferences,  I  know  of  no 
post  of  duty  that  could  more  strongly  attract  me. 

''But,  though  holding  myself  in  readiness  to  respond  to  any 


i  '• 


!       f  ll 


/     /^^ 


I  . 


I' 


E  "I 
■   f 


318     LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  AUSTIN  CKAIG 

clear  call  of  duty  in  this  matter,  I  wish  you  to  know  that  I  am 
not  certain  whether  tny  '  views'  are  fully  such  as  your  Sixth 
Article  requires.  Ihat  they  are  no/  such,  1  do  not  feel  able 
to  say.  1  think  I  could  say  (according  to  my  present  lifrhi) 
that  my  views  are  such  as  your  board  could  approve;  at  any 
rate,  I  am  nut  aware  that,  in  regard  to  any  'generally-received 
views,  my  sentiments  are  different  from  those  of  the  denomi- 
nation at  large. 

"  Furthermore,   I  am  not  certain  whether  my  convictions  on 
the  subject  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scripture  are  in  accordance 
with  the  intent  of  your  Sixth  Article.      I  sincerely  believe  that 
the  spirit  of  God  spake  through  the  i)rophets  of  the  Old  'iesta- 
ment,    and    through    the    apostles   of   the    Lord    Jesus.     And 
hroughout   the  twenty-five  years  of  n.y  ministry,  1  have  be- 
beved   and    preached   that   the  Holy  Scriptures  'are  '  (as  your 
Sixth   Article  states)  '  an  infallible  authority  and  guide  in  all 
matters    of  religious    faith   and    practice.'      But,    that   Sixth 
Article  requires  every  professor  in  the  institute  '  to  believe  and 
maintain     that,  'the  entire  Scriptures  are  given  by  inspiration 
ot  God.       I  stumble  at  those  four  unbiblical  words  ('  the  entire 
Scriptures  are.')     The  Bible  passage  says,  '  all  Scripture  ';  your 
Sixth  Article  vanes  from  the  Bible,  and  says,  '  the  entire  Scrip- 
tures.      If  this  unbibhcal  phraseology  was  intended  to  cover  all 
or  any  of  the  interpolations,  or  any  mistakes  of  transcribers  or 
translators,  or  any  parts  of  the  Scriptures  for  which  the  sacred 
writers  do  not  claim   or  rather  disclaim,   inspiration:  then  I 
should  at  once  decide  that  I  could  not  endorse  the  phraseology 
I  cannot  susjject  the  trustees  of  intending  to  require  of  their 
professors  an   as.sent   to  any  unbiblical   idea;    and   perhaps    I 
stumble  needlessly  at  the  unbiblical  words;  yet,  our  brethren 
generally  vv'ill  nardly  deem  it  strange  that  a  minister  trained  up 
trom  his  childhood  in  our  connexion,  should   hesitate  to  accept 
any  test  words  of  faith,  differing  from  the  words  of  our  divine 
and  only  creed. 

cH.'\^^.?A^'^'^'''  I'  ''  *^  P'^'"  "^"'y  °f  the  trustees  of  our  in- 
stitute ('  Chnsttan  '  and  •  Biblical '  may  it  truly  be  !)  to  induct 
no  man  mto  a  professorship  unless  to  him,  CMsf  is  head  over 
a  thorifv  iL  Church  and  all  inspired  Scripture  an  infallible 
TMvll  I  ^^  1 '?  '  '  ,'"^""'  of  religious  faith  and  practice. 
Fitly  has  the  Sixth  Article  of  the  by-laws  made  it  the  duty  of 
the  trustees  to  be  .<z//.></  ,hat  every  professor  '  possesses  all ' 
of  the  '  quahfications  '  specifically  required 


f 


THE  CrnilSTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE    319 

"I  would  heartily  wish  (if  I  should  have  a  teacher's  place  in 
the  instilute)   that,   not  the  trustees  only,  but  also  our  entire 
connexion,   should  be  satisfied  that  the  teacher  holds  no  views 
contrary  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel.-Permit  me,  therefore,  to 
suggest  that  It  might  be  well,_if  not  for  your  own  satisfaction, 
perhaps  for  the  satisfaction  of  our  connexion  generally  —to 
examme  the  president  elect  concerning  his  views,  on  all  mints 
required  by  the  by-laws  ;  requiring  him  to  answer  in  writing 
such   written  questions  as  a  committee  of  your  board  mieht 
present ;    or  (if  this  would  be  more  satisfactory),  presenting 
him  for  oral  examination  in  some  public  meeting  of  our  ministere 
and  churches.     I  do  not  seek  the  place  to  which  the  trustees 
have  elected  me ;    and  I  am  sure  I  would  not  wish  to  have  a 
place  in  the  institute,  unless  I  could  go  to  it  feeling  that  I  de- 
serve<l  the  confidence  and  sympathy  of  every  man  who  seeks 
the  welfare  of  the  entire  brotherhood. 

"  Should  this  letter  be  fully  satisfactory  to  your  board,  and 
should  you  be  able  to  consummate  the  business  arrangements 
which  your  final  acceptance  of  this  letter  would  require:  I 
should  consider  myself  under  obligations  to  enter  upon  {he 
duties  of  my  office  in  the  institute  at  your  call  ;_the  necessary 
arrangements  having  previously  been  made 

Jl  ^H  '  T*"''^  ""'l  '^"f  ™^y  'hus  bind  me,  I  shall  not  con- 
sider the  trustees  bound  by  their  election  of  me  at  their  last 
meeting.  I  wish  you  to  be  entirely  free  to  do  for  the  institute 
whatever  may  yet  seem  to  you,  or  seem  to  the  brotherhood 
be^t.  For,  whether  I  hold  official  relation  to  the  school,  or 
not,  I  expect  to  be  heartily  concerned  for  its  welfare,  and  ever 
o  pray  God  to  bless  the  school,-its  trustees,  teacher^' 
students,  friends,— one  and  all.  ' 


•'jl 


"  J\rew  Bedford,  Mass.,  May  i8,  1869." 


"Austin  Craig. 


While  there  were  in  the  denomination  which  was  to 
have  immediate  control  of  the  new  school  for  the  training 
of  men  in  the  deep  things  of  the  Bible,  some  who, 
through  jealousy  or  ignorance,  covertly  criticised 
Dr.  Craig  because,  in  their  eyes,  he  had  broken  away 
from  an  orthodoxy  which  they  thought  essential  and 
supreme,  the  great  mass  of  the  denomination,  preachers 


'     m  J    ' . 


t' 


320    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

and  laity  alike,  were  with  him  heart  and  soul,  and  his 
unanimous  election  by  the  board  of  trustees  found  a 
generous  and  heartfelt  response  in  the  denomination  all 
over  the  United  States. 


II 


Hil 


tf 


'M 


' 

k!^ 


XVII 

THE  CULMINATION  OF  A  LIFE-WORK 

THE  institute  opened  on  Octolier  3,  1869  in  a 
single  room  in  what  was  known  as  Stkrkey 
feemmary,  at  Eddytown,  now  Lakemont,  New 
lork.  There  was  but  a  handful  of  students  at  the  be- 
ginning, but  large  numbers  were  not  expected  ;_it  waa 
development  for  service  ou  the  part  of  those  who  should 
come  that  was  sought,  not  agreeable  statistics 

,.I7  ?r  ^T  ""  ^^'^^  prospered  in  this  location, 
slowly  but  surely  winning  its  way  into  the  confidence  of 
those  who  sought  an  untrammelled  place  to  study  the 
AVord  of  God.     Then  it  appeared  that  it  had  outgrown 
Its  quarters  and,  providentially  it  would  seem,  a  way  was 
at  once  opened  for  larger  usefulness.    A  farm  with  build- 
ings sufficient  for  the  school's  temporary  accommodation 
was  purchased  in  Staufordville,  Dutchess  County,  New 
Vork,  a  location  which  seemed  to  the  trustees  particularly 
well  suited  for  the  school  in  its  enlarged  sphere.     In  the 
a  I  of  1872  the  institute  was  opened  there,  classes  being 
held  in  the  commodious  and  convenient  Mansion  House 
When  this  arrangement  became  inadequate,  Hon.  David 
Uark,  of  Hartford,    Connecticut,    generously  provided 
funds  for  two  fine  and  spacious  buildings, -the  home  for 
shKtents  erected  in  1873,  and  in  1874,  the  institute  with 
recitation  rooms,  library  and  chapel. 

Inipressive  ceremonies  of  dedication  were  celebrated 
on  Wednesday  October  7,  1874.  Prominent  members 
of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  denomination  were  present. 
The  wide-spread  interest  in  the  school  is  indicated  by 

321  ■' 


i  M 

•■•f 


l< 


t    1' 


f{  < 


I 


M 


322     LIFE  Ax\D  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

tlie  geographical  location  of  those  who  took  part      The 
luvocatiou   was   delivered    by   the  Eev.   John    Koss    of 
Charleston  Four  Corners,  New  York  ;  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures   by   Rev.    O.   A.   Roberts,    of  New   Bedford 
Massachusetts;    prayer   by   Rev.    William   R.   Wellons' 
D.  D.,  Suflolk,  Virginia;  address  by  Hon.  David  Clark 
of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  presenting  the  gift  deed  and 
keys  of  the  institution,  with  reply  and  acceptance  bv 
liev   Isaac  C.  Goflf,  Irvington,  New  Jersey,  president  of 
the  board  oft  rusttHis ;  dedication  prayer,  Eev.  A  W  Coan 
Marion,  Indiana ;  address  by  Rev.  Austin  Craig,  I)  D  ' 
president  of  the  institute,  with  short  addresses  by  Kev' 
lhom;u*  Holmes,  D.  D.,  Union  Christian  College,  Merom' 
Indiana ;     Rev.    Warren    Hathaway,    Blooming  Grove 
New    York ;    Rev.   H.   Y.    Rush,   Dayton,   Ohio ;    Prof! 
J.    li.    Weston,    Autioch    College,    Ohio;    Rev.    Moses 
Kidder,     Woodstock,     Vermont,    with    benediction    by 
Rev.    Thomas   Henry   of   Oshawa,    Canada.     The  com- 
mittee of  arrangements  consisted  of  Isaac  A.  Coe,  Isaac 
C.  (Joff,  David  Clark. 

The    institute    now    entered    upon    a    new    and    en- 
larged can^er.     With  better  tacilities,  with  an  augmented 
taculty,  with  larger  attendance  and  with  deeper  interest 
on  the  part  of  the  church,  all  things  fovoured  still  larger 
success.     And   gn-at   success   indeed   came   in   this  the 
culminating  life-work  of  Dr.  Craig.     All  the  years  of 
prej>aration,   a  many-sid,.,!  preparation,   had   united  to 
fiishion  him  for  the  positi...,  h,.  now  h.-ld.     His  broad 
and  deep  knowledge,  making  him  on  matter  pertaining 
to    he  interpretation  of  the  S<Tiptures  an  authority,  one 
of  the  chief  s<holais  .,f  Ani,Tica  ;  his  steadily  growing 
power  of  (eacluMg  others  not  only  what  he  himst>lf  knew 
'•"t   how  to  fin.l  ,mt  for  (hen,s..lves  the  things  thev  did 
"Of   know;  his  splendid  Christian  manl.ood,  now  r'ecog- 
mzed  wherever  his  denomination   had   a  member  and 


1 1 


If 


IB   ■|f'.  1 


CHRISTIAN  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE 
Stanfordville,  New  York 


I  ;  I 


>i  I 


STUDENTS-  HOME 


I 'I' 


I   ! 


I 


THE  CULMIXATION  OF  A  LIFE-WORK    323 

almost  as  widely  among  other  neonl..  nf  ih^ 

faiths,  his  steadtiust  ad^erencx  to   Le  '  J^r"^  T'"" 

Word  of  God  an.l   I.i»  .■      i  '  ^^'"S^  of  'lie 

wonderful  p:trfutepl-rm'r''"^  ^'  ^^"^"^ '  ^'« 
not  less  byhis  eloquence  £'  Tth  "'  "''"  ""^  ""'"*'" 
his  l>er^ouality,-these  and     H^        '''''■*'  sweetness  of 

to   be  oiif  uf  iJiii    \.  "" '-'^'^*^^  «Aiiu  Hebrew, 

version         L  B  blttlT""  Tr^'^  "*"  ''''-'  ^--^ 

Who  was  presidenf  of  fi       .  *  ^^^^^1^  ^^^^aff, 

revision,  ^rr^,     ,    ^  ^T  Cr.i"""'^'"  ^"  *^^ 
on  diffienlt  prob.en.^  in  t.fe  "S^^'  '"  '=°-"'^«- 

"^a/^e^S^iiSn^S:::;^^^::^-"-^- 

der  Dr.'  Crafg's  wise  pr ,  oT,  "  'T.''  "^  '''''  "  "- 
.od,y..re,  A.ay  .:;  a'^l^  \  'S^^^^.^-^-'  -d 
lias  been  simnJv  wondorf„i  ^  development 

I'as  done  for  ij  and1„      '       ''""^ '     ^^'  I*"--  Craig 

"•i"««  Which  t;ir„,":;s  !:/?•  '^'^^  "*'•''-' 

talk  of;  thev  beIon<r  f«         !  "^  ''""'^  ^^  cainot 

guage  is  not  I  mSm"-'"  "*™"^  "^^"^  ^""^  '^n- 

.st.?;u7tro.oS"::;rid "  "•:  ri^'°"^'  -  -"  -  ^^^^ 
B.  ciig  i„  hTiiidrr-is  hirs:;;^  ^^e"^^ 

^Vard  Boecher  was  asked  to  give  a  Rihl.  i    I  ""^ 

"-titute.    His  cha^ct.ristic  a^nswer  wi       ''*"'  "'  '^^ 

"  You  have  a  man  un  there   AncfJr,  n     •        i     , 


• 


324    LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

h!s'feet"anT,,J   ^""''  ^'V'^'  ''^'"^  «  «'ool   and  .itcng  at 
to  me  ••  "^  '"  *"'  *°'<^'  ^  '""e  ^  he  would  talk 


At  he  begintiing  of  the  school's  history  (here  were 
only  thn*  r.f,M.lar  profe^ors,  Dr.  Craig,  Dr.  M'arreu 
Uathiuvay  who  was  uoii-resident,  aud  Professor  Selah 
Howill,  though    there  was  a  stalf  of  eight  well-kiiowu 

|"r /■''■"«•  "L  "?  ^l«H..i.i„atioM-I>ike,  Jioss,  Sun.mer- 
bc  1  Guff,  Maple,  McConuell,  Spoor,  aud  dimes,  who 
acted  as  y.s.tit.g  lecturers.     AVh....  the  .lew  b.ulding  was 

InTssi?  V""',  """'""  "'"^  ""^-'-".orcprofcLtB. 
B.bl.cal  lecturer;  Rev.  R.  J.  Mnght,  LL.  J).,  Meta- 
physics, Moral  Philosophy,  and  Church  Ili.storv' ;  Rev 
^Varre„  Hathaway,  A.  M.,  Hon.ile.ics;  Rev.  Martyu 
Suntinerbell,  A.  M.,  Pastoral  Care;  ].>ev.  Alva  H 
Mornll,  A.  M.,  Greek,  English,  and  Music  ;  Rev.  Asa 
\V.  Coan,  lecturer  on  Parliamentary  Law. 

The  day's  work  at  the  institute  was  a  full  one.     There 

were,  each   day,  led  ..res  ou  the  Bible,  daily  readings  in 

the    Grt-ek   T.-sta.nent,    lessons   in   Hebrew   to  such   as 

wished  to  go  deeper  into  the  Old  Tcstan,e..t,  togelher 

with  all  the  work   of  the  other  departments.      lu  one 

school  year  early  iu  the  history  of  the  institute  Dr.  Crai^ 

noted  >n  a  comnninication  to  oue  of  the  denominational 

newspapers  that  there  were  eight  hundred  and  forty-nine 

hours  of  actual  t.-aching  work  and  about  one-half  of  the 

whole  time  was  given  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures 

As  the  s<.hool  progres,sed,  while  none  were  r..ceived  as 
stu, leuts  uules.s  it  was  with  an  avowed  purpo.se  to  stay  at 
least  a  year  and  with  the  r-'commendatiou  of  two  min- 
isters in  good  standing  of  the  Christian  denomination,  or 
that  of  two  of  the  board  of  trustees,  together  with  the 
approval  of  the  resident  professors  of  the  board  of  in- 


M 


THE  CULMINATION  OF  A  LIFE-WORK    325 

struction,  others  could  avail  themselves  of  the  benefits  of 
the  lectures  free  of  charge. 

During  the  first  ten  years  seventeen  states  and  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  were  represented  in  the  institute. 
The  influence  of  these  young  men  going  out  from  under 
such  teaching  and  from  the  splendid  personality  of  the 
man  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  institute  cannot  be  given 
estimate  in  words.  Very  many  lettera  came  to  him 
many  others  came  to  his  family  after  his  death,  from  those 
who  were  students  under  him,  and  while  his  magnificent 
scholanship  is  not  ignored  in  recognition  of  his  power  the 
noble  character  of  the  man  himself  seems  to  be  most 
dwelt  upon. 

Here  in  the  midst  of  congenial  surroundings,  the  great 
aim  of  his  life  to  teach  others  to  teach  the  Bible  to  men 
found  daily  fruition.     No  one  could  consider  the  breadth 
and  scope  of  this  man's  many-sided  character  without  see- 
ing how  powerful  a  figure  he  might  have  become  in  other 
directions  had  he  chosen  paths  that  led  to  more  conspic- 
uous positions ;  for  Austin  Craig  had  the  flexible  nature 
and  endowment  backed  by  an  unusual  breadth  of  culture 
that  would  have  made  him  preeminent  as  a  man  of  let- 
ter, as  a  great  jurist,  or  as  a  master  of  diplomacy  and 
statecraft.     But  his  eye  never  swerved  from  the  path  of 
duty,  and  duty  led  him  not  where  the  bugles  played  but 
where  the  call  to  service  came  along  the  peace-marches 
of  the  Master. 

In  the  year  1879  a  sad  and  crushing  blow  came  upon 
Dr.  Craig  in  the  death  of  his  wife,  June  24th.  She  had 
been  for  a  time  in  poor  health  and  yet  so  devoted  to  her 
tamily,  so  ever  ready  to  comply  with  all  the  social  and 
semi-official  requirements  falling  to  the  lot  of  the  wife  of 
the  president  of  such  an  institution,  she  nerved  herself  to 
follow  the  line  of  duty  long  after  she  was  too  ill  for  such 
service.     In  February  of  the  same  year  Dr.  Craig  had 


Ml 


I  t, 


f 


i 


326    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

poignant  grief  wMch'fiS  ^eJ^Z  o^uS:  r'/ 

^^^  noblest  women  ever  given  to  bless  the  home  of  any 
One  who  knew  her  well  and  long  writes  : 

but'^cfdX  herafuin'i"'  '°  '"'''  '^"'^  ^'  -^-nd  -other 

gentleness  of  spirit  and  manners  mo^  "°^'^  """«''  8^"' 
affection   that  was  ever  "eek.n.Vn  '^  ^""^  P""'^'  *nd  «" 

woman  !  He  wZ  no  morf  h!  ^T^''  "'*^"'-  ^  ""ble 
knew  it.  Whe^The  diS^the  rr"  T^!'^l  °^  "^^  ^"^^  '^^'l  he 
of  my  life  hath  clean  gone  out. '  "       ''''  **'*"  '^'^'  '  ^he  light 

bnf zrh?  tt  vt^  r^r;  a'id"'-^  ^°^  '''-^'' 

-It  :;;'as  L'aT/r  IT  ''^^^'^  "^"^  '—-^'^ 
he  was  constau";  gil^of  hSf ?  "I.'"  "'"""^''■' 

him  how;e?en;^i;rnV?„;r;:s:ni"?'^'  ^""^^°^ 

i-titate  and  settle  for  l^uZ'^^'Z^'ZV^: 


§-: 


THE  CULMIXATIOX  OF  A  LIFE-WORK    327 


called  of  God  to  preach  His  Word,  he  answers  a  request 
for  ail  explauatiou  of  a  text,  to  the  young  man  obscure, 
as  follows  : 

**  You  ask  me  to  *  explain  First  Timothy,  second  chapter 
and  fourth  verse,  for  your  benefit  and  for  the  benefit  of  others 
in  your  couimunity.'  The  words  in  Timothy  are  these:  — 
'  Who  will  h:ive  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  unto  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.' — Let  us  open  the  Greek  Testament, 
and  try  to  study  the  passage  in  its  words,  and  in  its  connections 
of  thought. 

"This  second  chapter  exhorts  that,  first  of  all,  supplications, 
prayers,  intercessions,  thanksgivings,  be  made  by  the  Church 
on  beiialf  of  all  human  beings  (the  Greek  word  anthropon 
means  humans^, — especially,  on  behalf  of  kings  and  all  per- 
sons who  are  in  eminent  position;  in  order  that  we  may  pass 
through  a  tranquil  and  undisturbed  life  in  all  right-piety  and 
gravity:  for  this  supplication  on  behalf  of  all  humans,  is 
beautiful-good  (the  phrase  is  awkward  Euglish,  but  it  hits  the 
sense  of  the  Greek  Kaloti),  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  our 
Saviour  God  who  willeth  all  humans  to  be  saved  and  to  come 
into  acknowledging  of  truth.  For  God  is  one,  and  there  is  one 
Go-between  'twixt  God  and  human  beings,  human  Christ 
Jesus,  who  gave  Himself  a  ransom  on  behalf  of  all  (humans, 
aforesaid)  ; — the  testimony  whereof,  to  come  at  proper  seasons 
(say,  in  God's  own  good  time).  Unto  which  testimony — 
(namely,  that  God  is  the  God  of  all,  and  that  there  is  one  Go- 
between  'twixt  the  one  God  and  the  entire  Human  race), — I, 
Paul,  was  appointed  Herald  and  Apostle, — a  teacher  of  nations 
in  faith  and  truth. 

*'  In  this  passage  our  Paul  runs  into  his  favourite  doctrine, — 
the  favourite  doctrine  (we  might  even  say)  of  the  whole 
Antioch  school  of  'Christians,'  as  distinguished  from  the  cir- 
cumcised and  sometimes  Judjtizing  disciples  of  our  Lord  in 
Jerusalem  and  Judea.  Many  of  those  Pentecost  disciples  con- 
tinued long  in  the  prejudice  in  which  as  Jews  they  had  been 
reared,  that  God  was  the  special  possession  of  the  children  of 
Abraham.  Under  the  covenant  by  the  hand  of  mediator 
Moses,  the  family  of  Jacob  were  for  a  time  the  only  people  of 
King  Jehovah  ;  and  the  nations  of  the  world  were  aliens  and 
outsiders.  But  that  Mosaic  covenant  could  not  be  eternal,  be- 
cause it  did  not  make  the  fullest  and  highest  possible  revela- 


328    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

tion  of  God.  Indeed,  Moses  never  saw  God's/ace,  and  the  face 
is  the  full  revelation  of  the  true  being.  Judaism  was  vailed 
out,  and  could  come  into  the  Divine  Presence  only  m  a  figure, 
when  the  high  priest  entered  once  a  year  into  the  earthly 
*  Holy  of  Holies.'— But  in  the  one  Mediator  of  the  whole 
Human  race,  the  vail  is  taken  away,  and  all  the  Father  is 
revealed  by  the  spirit  of  the  Son  of  God  sent  into  the  hearts  of 
those  who  receive  the  Son. 

"The  blessings  of  this  new  and  better  covenant  are  not 
limited  to  one  elect  nation  chosen  out  of  the  seventy  nations  of 
mankind,  but  these  blessings  are  thrown  open  to  the  whole 
human  race.  In  Paul's  testimony  this  universality  of  the  new 
covenant  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  the  characterizing  feature.  Paul's 
apostolate  was  not  specially  to  the  people  (of  Israel),  but  to 
*//i^  nations'  of  the  world.  Paul's  special  testimony  in 
Christ's  name  is,  that,  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  Jews  only,  but 
also  of  the  Gentiles  (the  Greek  is  nations).  In  a  word,  the  God 
and  father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  God  of  all  Humanity, 
— of  every  human  being. 

**  Beware  here,  that  you  do  not  take  the  word  '  man  ' — or  hu- 
manity— in  any  later  Socinian  sense.  Our  minds  are  so  full  of 
this  later  '  Humanitarian '  controversy,  that  we  are  in  danger 
of  overlooking  the  high  sense  which  the  word  *  human '  or 
*  man  '  bears  in  Paul.  With  the  mere  '  Humanitarians  '  to  say 
that  Jesus  was  a  man,  was  to  deny  the  highest  characteristics 
of  His  being,— to  lower  Him,  in  fact,  while,  with  Paul,  the 
word  '  man '  is  used  in  contrast  with  the  narrowness  of  mere 
Abrahamic-flesh  relations.  When  Paul  said,  '  One  Mediator, 
human  Christ  Jesus,'  he  presented  our  Saviour  as  world-wide, 
broad  as  human  nature  itself,  in  His  flesh  -  nature ;  and  not 
narrowed   within    the    birth-range   of    Abraham,    or    Jewish, 

flesh. 

"In  this  preference  of  Paul  for  the  world-wide,  humanity- 
wide  view  of  Christ,  he  followed  Jesus  Himself,  who  would  not 
be  known  as  Son  of  David— as  a  Jew,  or  son  of  Abraham  ;  but 
preferred  to  speak  of  Himself  as  •  Son  of  man  '—child  of  hu- 
manity. I  would  not  call  Jesus  'a  man  '  ;  but  would  gladly 
think  of  Him  as  human,  as  being  in  all  His  manifestation  in 
form  and  relations  to  us,  the  full,  complete,  yea,  divine,  glori- 
fied, perfected  human;  imaging  the  God  which  indwells  and 
thus,  comprehending  all  humanity— every  human  being,  in  the 
plan   and  range  of  His  salvation.— But,  now,  perhaps,  these 


THE  CULMINATION  OF  A  LIFE-WORK    329 

words  of  mine  may  seem  to  you  to  need  explanation  quite  as 
much  as  Paul's  passage,  i  Timothy  2  :  4.~Well,  if  so,  try 
again  !  Yours  cordially, 

"Austin  Craig." 

Following  are  examples  of  the  demands,  and  the  an- 
swers to  them,  which  were  constaiitiy  being  made  upon 
him.  They  are  taken  from  letters  written  with  his  own 
hand,  often  after  gicat  weariness  of  body  and  mind,  in 
time  snatched  from  the  pursuit  of  his  regular  duties. 

"If  our  school  had  100  friends  who  had  been  in  it  as  you 
have,  and  who  could  feel  towards  it  as  you  do  I  would  feel 
little  concern  for  its  pecuniary  future.  If  our  school  can  live 
until  the  100  have  been  sent  forth,  it  will  then  continue  to  live 
(God  willing)  !  So  many  institutions  get  the  rickets  while 
teething  !  Yet,  I  don't  feel  discouraged  or  alarmed.  Our 
eighteenth  student  came  this  night  a  week  ago.  We  expect 
two  more  anyhow  before  the  school-year  ends.  And  David 
Clark  was  here  a  week  ago,  and  that  is  equivalent  to  the  loss 
of  the  indigo-bag  any  time.  As  a  consequence  of  his  coming, 
there  is  now  a  heap  of  stones— ((\^\\y  enlarging)  on  a  beautiful 
spot  near  our  present  school-building;  and  soon  there  will  be 
50,000  brick,  and  timber,  and  slate,  etc.,  and  a  house  60x30, 
two  stories  above  the  basement,  and  a  steeple  or  dome,  and 
sweet-toned  bell  in  it.  ( '  Blessed  are  the  people  that  know  the 
joyful  sound  ! ' ) 

"You  enquired  lately  concerning  'Home's  Introduction,' 
etc.  The  last  (English)  edition  in  four  volumes,  octavo,  would 
cost  (I  suppose)  nearly  twenty  dollars.  Cheaper  editions  can 
be  found,  especially  old  American  reprints  of  the  work  of  twenty 
or  thirty  years  ago— dear  at  any  price.  (Don't  read  an  old 
edition  of  a  work  which  has  been  brought  up  to  date  in  im- 
proved editions.)  \{  you  study  the  Statistics  of  the  United 
States,  get  the  last  Census  Report,  rather  than  an  older  one : 
especially  if  you  wish  to  understand  \\\^  present  state  of  affairs  ! 
It  wastes  time  (and  misleads)  to  read  a  poor  book.     And  any 

book  is  a  poor  book — no  matter  how  good  it  was  in  its  day, 

if  the  progress  of  knowledge  in  the  field  which  it  purports  to 
cover,  has  been  carried  forward  greatly  since  the  book  was 
made.  Let  the  antiquated  editions  (all  the  American  ones)  of 
'  Home's  Introduction  '  severely  alone  !  " 


^*M 


330 


LIFE  AXD  LETTERS  OF  AUSTLX  CRAIG 


*'  Your  letter  of  July  iQih  asks  me  to  give  '  a  brief  idea  '  of 
what  Jesus  ineant  when  He  said  to  Nicodemus,  *  Ye  must  be 
born  again  * — *  born  of  the  water  and  spirit.' 

"Well  notice  fnst  that  the  Evangelist  John  (the  sole  nar- 
rator of  Jesus'  Conversation  with  Nicodemus),~-begins  the 
narration  with  the  significant  statement  that  Nicodemus  was  'a 
man  of  the  Pharisees  '— '  a  ruler  of  the  Jews.' 

"The  'Pharisees'  were  to  Judaism  in  that  day,  what  the 
Jesuits  are  to  the  Papacy  in  our  time  ;— ilie  everywhere  active 
zea  ous  partisans,  i)ropagandists  and  proselytists.  They  under- 
took the  world-wide  missionary  work  of  bringing  the  Gentiles 
(the  nations  ot  mankind)  into  the  Church  of  Moses  and  the 
Kabbis.  Jesus  said  that  the  IMiarisees  would  '  c  ompass  sea  and 
land  to  make  one  i)roselyte.'  And  He  added  :  '  When  he  is 
made  ye  make  him  twofold  more  a  son  of  Gehenna  than 
yourselves.'     (Matt.  23  :  15.) 

-The  frue  fmssi'omiry  of  faith  seeks  to  bring  men  into  the 
fellowship  of  God  :   ih. />rose/ytist  is  satisfied  to  gain  adherents 
to  nis  ;it-ct.     In  the  Abrahan.ic  spirit  and  seed  there  was  spir- 
itual life,— having  its  beginning  in  that  Fai/h  in  God,  which 
God     counts    for    ngJiteoNsness.     The    Abrahannc    kernel    of 
Ij^iith   had  for  its  i)rotection  until  the  fullness  of  the  time  came 
the  shell  of  Mosaism,— a  great  system  of  parabolic  things  and 
acts  and   institutions,  by  which  the  fellowship  of  man's  spirit 
with  God  the  Spirit,  was  symbolized  and  made  impressive  to 
the  senses  of  the  worshipi)er.      The  strength  and  the  weakness 
ot  Judaism  were  here— in  that,  by  setting  forth  heavenly  things 
by  earthly  '  patterns  '  it  both  revealed  God  and  concealed  Him. 
"  To  the  si)iritually-minded,  Mosaism  became  a  transparency 
showing  the  things  heavenly  ;   while  to  the  c  arnally-minded    it 
became  a  veil   hiding  the  things  of  God  by  means  of  material 
forms.      thus,   the  spiritually-minded   Gentile  could  find  the 
faith  of  Abraham  and  the  righteousness  of  God,  by  means  of 
the   Mosaic    symbols;    while  a    born-son  of  Abraham's  flesh 
might   fail  to  find  the  spiritual  life  altogether,  and  become  no 
better  than  an  idolater— by  tailing  to  look  through  and  beyond 
the  mere  letter— the  material  part  of  Mosaism.     To  make  men 
sharers  of  the   Abrahamic   faith   and    righteousness,    was  the 
noblest  missionary  work  of  a  glorious  Pharisee— such  as  Saul 
of   Tarsus   (Paul  of  Cyprus);    while  the  work   of  proselyting 
Gentiles  to  the  mere  shell  and  material  outwardness  and  selfish 
interests  of  Judaism,  was  the  work  of  the  *  blind  Pharisee  '— 


THE  CULMINATION  OF  A  LIFE-WORK     331 

such  as  Nicodemus  had  been;  a  work  in  which  the  proselytist 
and  his  proselyte— the  blind  leader  and  the  blind  led,— both 
fell  into  the  ditch. 

**To  commune  with  the  Jfo/y  God,  the  worshipper  must 
first  be  cleansed.  Completed  cleansing  employs  the  three 
agents;  'the  Blood'  (of  the  Altar  of  Sacrifice),  'the  Water' 
(of  the  Laver)  and  '  the  Spirit '  (of  the  innermost  shrine). 
These  three,  'the  Spirit,  the  water,  and  the  blood,' — do  bear 
witness  on  earth  that  the  thrice-holy  God  of  heaven  is  seeking 
to  purify  for  Himself  a  peculiar  people,  who  may  become  par- 
takers of  His  holiness  and  sharers  of  His  heaven. 

"  The  real  purifier  of  man's  spirit,  is  the  Spirit  of  God.  In 
the  days  of  the  Messiah,  the  spirit  was  to  be  poured  out  to  all 
flesh.  Mosaism  pointed  onward  to  the  Messiah — and  prepared 
the  people  for  His  coming.  Mosaism  could  typify  purifica- 
tion,— but  the  Holy  Spirit  was  not  given  until  the  Son  of  God 
was  glorified.  Mosaism  could  take  the  Gentile  to  the  brazen 
altar,  and  by  blood  could  represent  the  divine  forgiveness  of 
the  sins  that  were  past: — next,  Mosaism  could  take  the  wor- 
shipper (say)  to  the  brazen  laver,  and  by  the  washing  of  water 
could  represent  and  signify  the  cleansing  of  the  man  from  his 
Gentile  nature — his  whole  inheritance  of  defilement  from  his 
fallen  ancestry. 

**In  making  a  proselyte, — in  naturalizing  the  proselyted 
Gentile  into  the  Church  of  Israel,  a  noticeable  part  of  the  cere- 
monial consisted  anciently  in  the  washing,  by  which  the  defile- 
ment of  the  Gentile  birth-state  was  washed  away,  and  the 
proselyte  became  a  clean  man  of  Israel.— And  it  appears  that 
the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  washed  (or  baptized) 
proselyte,  as  being  then  new-born  into  Israel.  For  they  counted 
all  his  former  life  in  heathenism  as  no  life  at  all ;  considering 
him  as  a  new-born  babe  the  day  he  was  baptized  into  Israel, 
and  '  born  of  water.'  " 

"  I  do  not  'regard  the  Bible  sufficient  without  notes  or  com- 
ments.' No  book  in  the  world  requires  for  its  full  unfolding,  a 
wider  range  of  learning.  The  deep  student  of  the  Bible  (if  he 
would  become  an  expositor  of  its  deep  things)  needs  to  become 
—-in  considerable  measure — a  Chaldean,  a  Hebrew,  an  Egyp- 
tian, an  Arabian,  a  Persian,  a  Greek,  a  Roman, — a  geographer, 
a  historian,  a  linguist,  an  ethnologist,  a  metaphysician, — and  a 
saint,  through  the  sanctifying  spirit  of  the  Son  of  God.     The 


332     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

Bible  is   God's  book  to  man  :   or  God's  library  :   for  there  are 

sixty-six  books — written  through  a  period — from  first  to  last 

of  fifteen  or  sixteen  centuries.  To  understand  the  all-sided 
fullness  and  depth  of  the  Bible,  we  require  nothing  less  than 
the  all-sided  intelligence  of  the  Family  of  God  through  all 
ages. 

**And  yet,  every  human  soul  may  find  its  own  salvation 
fully  made  known.  A  little  child  may  find  its  way  of  life  and 
peace — in  a  few  simple  verses.  Sometimes  (oftentimes)  it  takes 
hardly  more  than  a  verse  or  two  to  save  a  soul  :  but  thoroughly 

to  furnish  the  man  of  God  for  ministry  to  the  Church, and 

fully  to  equip  the  Church,  as  God's  witness  through  and  to  the 
ages ;  the  whole  variegated,  manifold  wisdom  of  God— in  the 
whole  range  of  its  length  and  breadth  and  depth  and  height,  from 
the  Divine  Beginnings  in  Genesis,  to  the  Divine  Unveiling  in  the 
Apocalypse;— all  is  needful.  And  who  is  sufficient  for  these 
things?  Far  be  it  from  me  to  think  the  Bible  an  easy  book  ! 
A  plain  man  may  find  his  salvation  therein  ;  but  yet,  to  com- 
prehend its  range  and  fullness,  something  more  than  an  honest 
purjx^se,  and  a  Bible  *  without  note  or  comment '  is  requisite. 

«*  I  hold  therefore  of  inestimable  value  for  understanding  the 
oracles  of  God— the  Holy  Scriptures  (next  after  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  its  tuition  in  the  things  of  God)— all  that  now  abundant 
and  providential  array  of  grammars,  lexicons,  concordances,  in 
the  sacred  tongues, — in  Hebrew  and  Greek.  God  has  provi- 
dentially prepared  these  choice  languages  of  Shem  and  Jajjheth 
to  be  the  vehicles  of  His  Word  to  Mankind.  And  He  has 
gifted  and  raised  up  men  to  make  dictionaries  and  concord- 
ances— with  an  appalling  amount  of  labour — bringing  down  at 
last,  even  to  ordinary  |)eople  of  sense,  the  best  results  of  high 
Hebrew  and  Greek  scholarship,  in  those  blessings  of  His  good 
providence— the  Englishman's  Hebrew  Concordance,  and  the 
Englishman's  Greek  Concordance. 

*' A  little  study  will  enable  any  one,  by  the  continued  use  of 
these  works,  to  gain  the  larger  part  of  that  critical  knowledge 
of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures,  which  has  until  recently 
been  the  almost  exclusive  possession  of  scholars  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek. 

"  I  hold  it  incredible  at  the  outset,  that  any  one  man  should 
be  competent  to  write  a  commentary  of  high  value  on  all  the 
books  of  the  Bible— or  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
When  you  seek  a  valuable  commentary  on  the  whole  Bible  you 


THE  CULMINATION  OF  A  LIFE-WORK    333 

must  seek  a  work  in  which  many  workmen  of  God  have  la- 
boured together.  Shun  a  sectarian  commentator— a  man  who 
finds  his  denommation  and  creed  in  the  Bible  and  not  much 
else— shun  him,  as  you  value  the  Truth  of  God.  And  shun 
men  who  pretend  to  have  found  out  the  great  secret  of  God— 
which  has  been  hidden  from  His  Church  universal  through  all 
Christian  ages,  until  Doctor  Ego,  of  the  town  of  Self-Conceit 
found  It  all  out  for  the  first  time  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago !  " 

"  What  you  request  me  to  do,  cannot  be  suitably  done  within 
the  compass  of  a  short  letter.  Your  questions  deal  with  some 
of  the  most  difficult  parts  of  Theology.  If  I  should  answer 
fully  you  might  tell  me  that  you  did  not  ask  me  to  write  a 
pamphlet,  but  only  a  letter.  .  .  .  But  on  a  subject  so  dif- 
ficult, brevity  becomes  obscurity:  and  short  answers  to  your 
derTto^d^  ^^  ^""^^^^  ^^^  answers  to  the  risk  of  being  misun- 

*'  My  'view  on  the  state  of  the  dead,'  does  not  differ  in  es- 
sential points  (I  suppose)  from  the  general  view  of  the  Church 
in  all  ages.     If  I  have   any   special  way  of  setting  forth  my 

""'^u,  '°  ^^^°  s^^^"  different  from  other  Christians,  it  would 
probably  be  due  to   the  fact  that  in  psychology  I  am  a  Tri- 
^^^A7.,//x/      Man  represents  the  three  heavens,  and  (as  created 
at  first)  his  body  has  its  life  from  his  soul,  his  soul  from  his 
spirit,  and  his  spirit  from  the  eternal  fountain  in  the  bosom  of 
God    ^  When  Man   was  created,  then    'the  heavens  were  fin- 
ished    as  well  as  '  the  earth  ' ;  and  man,  made  to  show  forth 
the  glory  of  God,  was  not  made  subject  to  death,  as  (all)  the 
animals  were.     He  was  indeed  made  capable  of  falling  out  of 
his  first  estate  of  life,  and   falling  under  the  power  of  Death 
And  he  did   so  fall.     Inwardly,  he  fell  out  of  fellowship  with 
the  Spirit  of  God ;  and,  outwardly,  he  fell  out  of  the  heavenly 
part  of  the  Earth— out  of  the  suburb  of  the  Paradise  of  God 
losing  his  privilege  of  eating   of  the  Tree  of  Life,  by  whose 
virtue  his  flesh  had  been  kept  in  incorruption. 

"  Driven  out  from  his  Paradise,  Man  carried  forth  with  him 
the  promise  that  Mhe  seed  of  the  woman  '  should  bruise  the 
head  of  that  'serpent '  which  had  the  influence  of  temptation 
and  the  power  of  death.  At  the  postern  gate  of  his  lost  Para- 
dise, God  placed  for  Man's  hope  a  visible  sign  of  His  Justice 

A  ^^'S  Grace :  placing  at  the  east  of  Eden  'the  cherubim,' 
and  the  I^  laming  Sword  turning  ever  upon  its  own  centre  (Eze- 


334    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

kiel's  'Fire  unfolding  itself)— to  keep  for  Man  ♦  the  way  of 
the  Tree  of  Life,' — God  and  the  Heavenly  Powers  keeping  for 
Man,  against  the  day  of  redemption,  his  forfeited  privilege  of 
Incorruption. 

"  'I'his  visible  reminder  of  the  heavens,  represented  at  the 
postern  gate  of  Adam's  Paradise,  was  the  first  sanctuary  of 
Man's  worship  as  a  sinner— as  a  fallen  heir  of  life.  Nothing 
now  (from  Adam)  can  reach  the  Tree  of  Life,  without  passing 
under  the  Sword.  Here  in  this  awful  presence,  Abel's  faith 
brings  a  type  of  the  Lamb  '  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world. '  The  Blood  of  the  Lamb  cleanses  the  believer  from  sin, 
and  reopens  the  way  to  the  Tree  of  Life. 

•'  Afterwards,  in  the  sanctuary  of  Israel,  the  same  truth  was 
represented  again.  The  '  Holy  of  Holies  '  in  both  the  Taber- 
nacle of  Moses  and  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  continued  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  postern  gate  of  Adam's  Paradise.  There 
were  *  the  cherubim  '  overshadowing,  and  between  them  the 
ineffable  light  shone  forth :  ready  to  be  a  sword  of  fire  to  smite 
the  unworthy  with  their  unhallowed  offering,  and  ready  to 
smile  a  favour  better  than  life,  upon  those  who  approached  ac- 
ceptably.  .  .  .  This  great  lesson  runs  through  the  volume 
of  the  Divine  Testimony  :  the  last  book  of  the  sacred  library 
closes  with  the  reopening  of  that  postern  gate  of  Eden.  The 
guardian  heavens  and  the  flaming  sword  have  kept  the  way  of 
the  Tree  of  Life  for  ALin,  until  the  redemption  of  the  i)urchased 
possession  ;  and  now,  they  that  have  washed  their  robes  and 
made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  shall  have  right  to 
the  Tree  of  Life,  and  shall  be  where  there  is  no  more  death." 

**  Brother  M fears  that  *  peril  '  may  come  to  us  from  the 

agitation  of  questions  concerning  Inspiration.  Agitation  may 
come;  but  not  'peril,'  if  we  faithfully  hold  our  old  ground 
We  take  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
as  our  only  and  sufficient  rule  of  religious  faith  and  practice. 
1  he  Scriptures  are  our  rule ;  they  command  our  obedience ;  we, 
Christians,  strive  to  live  and  walk  according  to  this  rule  We 
have  no  other  rule;  we  confess  this  'sufficient.'  Whoever 
practically,  and  in  his  practice,  holds  this  confession,  stands  on 
Christian  ground. 

-  Whoever  preaches  the  Scriptures  as  the  rule— only  and 
sufficient— of  the  fliith  and  practice  of  Christian  men  and 
churches,  preaches  like  a  Christian.     He  may  have  a  f/i^cry  ut 


THE  CULMINATION  OF  A  LIFE-WORK    335 

Inspiration,  if  he  have  intellect  enough  to  frame  one  for  him- 
self,  or  the  good  fortune  to  find  a  suitable  one  framed  by  others 
As  to  theories  of  Inspiration,  he  may  think  Bishop  Lowth's  the 
best;   or,  perhaps,    Dean   Alford's;  or,   Gaussen's;  or,   some 
other  good  man's.     A  man  might  honestly  take  either  of  them 
and  yet  stand  fully  on  our  ground.  ' 

-  There  are  diflferent  degrees  of  knowledge  among  ministers  ; 
theories  vary,  as  knowledge  differs  in  degree.  But  ministers 
of  all  varying  degrees  of  knowledge  must  bow  to  the  only  and 
sufficient  rule.  They  may  have  any  theory  of  Inspiration,  or 
none  at  all  as  the  case  may  necessarily  be— to  the  honest  con- 
clusions of  each  man.  He  who  rejects  the  Bible  as  his  only 
and  sufficient  rule,  rejects  the  platform  on  which  we  stand 
And  he  who  should  set  up  any  f/ieory  of  Inspiration  as  a  test 
ot  fellowship  among  us,  would  step  off  the  Christian  platform 
and  become  a  sectarian." 

"I  have  not  written  you  since  brother  Garfield  became 
President  elect— a  result  which  satisfied  me  well.  And  now 
if  only  the  several  party-leaders  in  the  Republican  party  can  be 
brought  to  cooperate  for  the  welfare  of  the  nation;  I  see  noth- 
ing to^  prevent  the  final  break-up  of  '  solid  South  '  and  *  solid 
North  and  the  attainment  of  solid  union— solid  prosperity- 
solid  America, -providential  means  to  the  final  establishment 
of  hat  only  endurmg  and  eternally  solid  polity  whose  length 
and  breadth  and  height  are  equal.  ^ 

-  If  Garfield  can  bring  the  Sou//t  into  the  C/m'on,  the  Demo- 
^.Trl\^r.^'^^^?^^  then  permanently  go  into  written  history  from 
Burr  to  Kelly.  But  I  hope  there  will  be  a  sharp  lookout  kept 
by  the  sera f, hers  upon  the  Conklins  :-the  <  Boss  '  business  be- 
longs  to  the  Democracy. 

T  C  '^^t^'^'^^l'^^^f'  "^""^^  ""^^^  ^^^  North  and  South  in  union. 

I  have  heard  that  the  '  Christians  '  of  the  *  Campbellitc '  order 

are  disposed  to  vote  for  their  own  men.     It  is  said  that  your 

aforetime  Governor  Bishop  owed  his  election  to  the  votes  of  his 

Disciple     brethren.     And  I  noted  recently  that  in   the  late 

election,  Kentucky  fell   short  of  her  anticipated  Democratic 

aggregate  by  20,000.     It  is  said  that  there  are  600  '  Christian  ' 

churches  in  Kentucky.     (I  think  the  census  of  1870  says  so.) 

The  600,000  *  Christians  '  of  Brother  Garfield's  sort,  are  mostly 

along   the  border  line  between  the  North  and  the  South,  from 

Missouri  to  Virginia.     I  hope  that  among  those  600,000   Gar- 


336     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


field  knows  one  or  two  men  fit  for  '  Cabinet '  use,  and  hundreds 
who  will  heartily  favour  the  generous  and  uniting  policy  which 
I  hope  he  will  adopt.  I  expect  no  post-office ;  for  my  sect  are 
not  Christians  of  the  same  sort  as  Brother  Garfield's  Christians  ' 
VVould  to  heaven  there  were  but  one  sort  of  Christians  in  all 
the  umverse  and  that  sort— the  best !  Do  I  then  think  that  all 
Christians  would  be  of  my  sect  ?  By  no  means ;  they  would 
all  be  members  and  organs  of  the  one  Christ— the  Lord  and 
Head  of  all. 

*'  But  I  meant  to  write  you  a  letter,  not  a  harangue:' 


XVIII 

THE  MAN 

FREQUENTLY  in  a  consideration  of  the  life  of  a 
iiiiiu  of  affairs  the  world  is  apt  to  lose  sight  of  the 
personality,  the  man  iis  he  appears  to  family  and 
intimate  friends.  Now  and  again  in  the  range  of  biog- 
raphy, a  great  man's  life  scarcely  suggests  treatment  from 
this  point  of  view.  It  may  be  that  the  weakness  of  his 
human  nature  drew  him  into  paths  whose  description  is 
scarce  printable ;  it  may  be  that  he  lived  in  isolation, 
personally  a  quite  colourless  life  ;  it  may  be  that  his  in- 
tercourse with  his  fellow  men  and  the  more  intimate  rela- 
tions of  the  home  were  marred  by  a  distressing  personality 
that  needs  no  other  comment  than  such  as  a  kindly  ob- 
livion offers. 

But  in  the  case  of  the  subject  of  this  biography,  the 
matter  stands  wholly  different.  In  all  his  personal  life 
he  preserved  the  same  splendid  characteristics  that  dis- 
tinguish his  public  career,  save  that  they  were  softened 
and  made  more  tender  by  the  intimacy  of  human  love. 
Dr.  Craig  was  particularly  beloved  by  his  family  to  whom 
he  was  counsellor  and  confidant,  companion  and  pattern 
and  guide ;  at  once  the  most  dearly  loved  person  in  the 
world  and  the  most  reverenced  ;  while  he  in  turn  with 
the  great  father  love  of  his  heart  was  as  devoted  to  them 
as  they  to  him.  An  old  student  recalls  the  familiar  pic- 
ture of  Dr.  Craig  on  his  way  to  the  village  post-oflBce 
with  one  child  in  a  little  cart  and  another  on  his  back — 
seemingly  enjoying  the  fun  as  much  as  they.  It  was  this 
ability  to  throw  off  cares  and  worries  and  enter  into  the 

337 


.M 


\% 


'*!( 


n 


338     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

interests  and  enjoyments  of  those  around  him  that  kept 
him  young  in  heart. 

No  matter  how  heavily  duties  pressed  upon  him,  he 
took  a  deep  and  active  interest  in  every  detail  of  the 
family  life,  particularly  whin  some  member  of  the  little 
flock  growing  up  around  him  was  in  any  real  or  fancied 
trouble.  To  him  the  sorrows  of  childhood  were  not  mat- 
ters for  light  and  disparaging  treatment,  to  be  hushed  up 
with  sweetmeats  or  checked  by  harsh  words.  To  him 
they  were  vital  features  of  the  child  life.  One  day— as  an 
illustration— a  homeless  cat  made  its  way  to  the  hearth 
that  was  never  aught  than  generous  to  man  or  beast. 
The  cat  became  a  much  loved  pet  in  the  tamily,  of  which  it 
remained  a  member  for  many  years.  It  fell  ill  at  last,  for 
age  advanced,  and  the  children  were  nuich  concerned. 
Especially  distressed  was  tin*  little  boy,  who  could  not 
bear  to  go  to  bed  in  the  evening  until  his  father  had  told 
him  he  would  take  care  of  his  i)et  during  the  night  and 
try  and  keep  it  from  [)ain.  So,  knowing  how  it  would 
bring  comfort  to  the  child,  the  father  stayed  up  through 
the  long  night  ministering  to  the  sick  cat  until  it  died  at 
the  dawn.  Even  in  the  midst  of  the  severest  mental 
strain,  when  every  ounce  of  reserved  force  was  drawn 
upon  for  the  prosecution  of  his  public  duties,  he  was 
ready  and  eager  to  do  this  humble  service. 

For  two  days  (he  cat's  body  lay  in  state  wrapped  in  a 
white  sheet  in  a  passageway  leading  to  the  wood-shed. 
Then  there  must  be  a  funeral  with  appropi  iate  singing 
and  remarks  and  a  burial  under  an  apple-tree  on  the 
lawn.  The  boy  chose  the  text— *' All  flesh  is  grass!" 
Dr.  Craig  made  the  occasion  an  opportunity  for  saying 
some  most  beautiful  things  on  the  need  of  kindness  to 
animals.  The  eat  fell  into  history,  his  life  being  described 
by  :\rrs.  Warren  Hathaway  in  the  FJImf rated  Chnsiian 
Weekly  then  under  the  editorship  of  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott. 


THE  MAN 


339 


Austin  Craig  early  inculcated  the  principles  of  self-re- 
liance in  his  family.  He  taught  his  children  to  accept 
their  due  responsibility  for  the  results  of  their  actions 
instead  of  shouldering  them  upon  some  one  else,  or  upon  "^ 
Providence.  In  em^jhasizing  this  point  in  an  address  he  " 
said:  '*My  children  were  very  sick  last  night  j  some 
might  call  it  Providence,  but  it  wasn't ;  it  was  unripe 
cherries !" 

He  was  passionately  devoted  to  all  that  was  beautiful 
in  nature  and  in  books,  and  the  radiation  of  his  own  pro-  4 
found  understanding  and  appreciation  stimulated  this 
love  in  others.  As  soon  as  his  children  were  old  enough 
to  begin  to  understand  he  placed  before  them  the  rarest 
verse  of  the  centuries.  Frequently  he  would  call  them 
about  him  and  read  to  them  from  Homer,  adapting  with 
the  facility  of  a  great  scholar  the  story  of  the  poet  to  the 
mind  of  the  child.  Now  and  then  he  would  read  and 
paraphrase  or  explain  to  them  selections  from  Plato,  ever 
simplifying,  but  never  distorting. 

A  lady  who  was  a  guest  in  the  home,  an  author  of  not«, 
was  much  amused  to  hear  the  little  four-year-old  pipe  up 
in  response  to  the  question  what  the  evening's  reading 
should  be—"  I  like  the  '  Iliad  '  best." 

In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Horace  Mann,  written  in  1880,  Dr. 
Craig  says : 


(( 


I  want  my  children  to  have  a  few  years  of  real  childhood 
at  home,  to  romp  and  play  and  shout,  and  play  with  dolls  and 
make  playthings  with  a  whittling-knife,  and  be  with  each  other. 
There  are  enough  of  them  to  make  plenty  of  company  for  them 
all.  At  evening  I  often  open  the  doors  through  a  circuit  of 
rooms  and  hall  in  this  large  house,  and  then  the  children  all 
have  a  race  and  romp  playing  'Old  Witch*  and  *  Fairies,' 
laughing  and  puffing  and  screaming  and  sweating  until  they  are 
tired  ;  and  then  we  read ;  that  is  I  read  to  them.  They  have 
heard  all  of  Jacob  Abbott's  books,  sixty  or  seventy  volumes, 
read, — many  of  them  over  and  over  again.     I  have  just  finished 


n 


340    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTL\  CRAIG 

reading  to  them  Hue  and  Gabet's  *  Travels  in  Tartary  arid 
Ihibet.'  We  read  Herodotus  before  that  and  part  ol  Dr 
I  hompson's  new  edition  of  the  '  Land  and  the  Book  '  Dr 
Kane's  report  of  his  arctic  life  was  very  interesting  <  The  Swiss 
l^aii.ily  Robinson/  and  the  ♦  Pilgrim's  Progress  '  have  been  read 
over  and  over  many  tnnes.  And  the  story  of  Joseph  and  other 
hible  stones  come  up  often.  They  are  interested  in  real  things 
and  m  good  books."  ^ 

Called  away  from  home  on  any  journey,  he  kept  in 
constant  daily  eomnmnication  with  his  lo\ed  ones,  send- 
ing them  the  most  minute  as  well  as  interesting  details  of 
the  events  transpiring  around  him.  The  letters  U)  his 
children  are  full  of  the  father  love  as  well  as  replete  in 
interest  to  the  childish  mind.  The  following  well  illus- 
trates this  ; 

''  Peapdck,  New  Jersey,  Sunday  Evening,  June 3,  '77. 
"Dearest  Mamma  and  Dear  Children— All  : 

''Mamma's  letter  of  June  ist  came  Saturday  evening 
We  here  are  all  well.  Grandma  will  get  well  again.  We  went 
to  see  her  this  afternoon.  She  does  not  mean  now  to  come 
with  me  when  I  come  to  you.  I  think  to  start  next  Tuesday— 
perhaps  in  the  afternoon  from  Bernardsville.  Then  1  cannot 
be  with  you  before  Wednesday  morning. 

"  Moses  is  in  bed  now— asleep ;  and  so  are  all  the  people  in 
the  house— except    me.     It   is  after    ten    o'clock.     Before  he 
went  to  bed  Moses  read  to  me  out  of  the  Bible— how  the  Ark 
of  God  was  taken  by  the  Philistines,  and  how  they  sent  it  back 
Moses  went  with  me  to  church  this  morning;  and  this  afternoon 
he  and  I  went  to  see  Grandma.     Mrs.  Auble  had  baked  a  nice 
little  cherry  pie  in  a  saucer,  and  she  sent  it  to  Grandma  by 
Moses.     Grandma  was  much   pleased,  and  she  gave  Moses  a 
fine  orange,  which  Moses  did  not  wish  to  take  from  Grandma  ; 
but  she   wished  to  give  two  oranges.     After    we  came   back 
home,  we  had   a  good  rain,  and   now  it  is  cool,  and  the  grass 
looks  greener  than  ever.     The  grass  is  very  pretty  this  year  be- 
hind  the  house,  and   the  trees  grow  big  and  leafy  and  make 
shade  over  the  grass.     The  strawberries  have  begun  to  ripen, 
and  the  '  snow  balls '  are  very  big  and  many.     And  now,  the 
yellow  roses  do  out- yellow  everything  ! 


THE  MAN 


341 


<*  After  I  came  back  from  church  I  was  in  the  east  orchard, 
lying  down  on  a  heap  of  mown  grass  under  an  apple-tree  by 
the  brook,  and  the  litde  turkeys  all  came  right  up  to  my  hand, 
as  if  they  thought  1  was  there  to  feed  them.  But  the  mother 
turkey  did  not  come  so  close.  I  counted  them,  but  now  I  can't 
think  whether  they  were  sixteen  or  seventeen.  Mr.  Auble  has 
two  nice  little  pigs  in  a  pen,  and  he  gives  them  clean  water  to 
bathe  themselves  in  every  day.  But  the  big  pig  in  the  barn- 
yard will  lie  down  in  the  dirty  water,  and  muddy  herself  ail 
over ;  and  then  Moses  comes  with  a  long  stick  and  rubs  her 
and  scrapes  her,  and  she  lies  down  and  grunts  as  if  she  liked 
it.  I  think  I  will  tell  Moses  some  time  that  pigs  would  like  to 
be  washed  and  combed  ! 

'« But  the  cleanest  things  about  the  barn  are  those  two  fat 
little  kittens.  To-night  the  mother  cat  brought  one  of  them 
down  to  the  house  with  her,  and  they  both  came  in.  She  did 
not  carry  it ;  it  is  now  too  big  to  be  carried  ;  she  called  it — and 
it  came  along.  Then  Mr.  Auble  took  them  back  to  the  barn 
to  the  other  kitten. 

"Last  evening  Moses  and  I  went  to  the  brook  to  bathe. 
After  we  were  back  again  in  the  house,  Moses  found  on  his 
hat  a  locust  not  yet  out  of  its  shell.  It  was  one  of  the  seven- 
teen-year locusts.  They  come  up  now  out  of  the  ground  here, 
and  the  woods  and  old  orchards  are  full  of  them.  To-day  I 
broke  a  litde  twig  off  an  apple-tree, — a  very  little  twig — and 
on  it  I  counted  fifteen  shells  of  locusts, — one  of  which  1  send 
you  with  this.  They  live  in  the  ground  most  of  their  life,  and 
when  they  come  out,  they  cannot  fly,  but  can  only  crawl. 
They  crawl  up  on  trees,  or  on  stalks  of  any  kind,  and  after  a 
while  they  burst  open  their  shell  and  leave  it  dry  and  empty, 
whil'*  they  get  wings  and  fly  away.  When  Moses  was  at  the 
brook  bathing,  he  set  his  hat  down  on  the  ground  under  a  big 
tree,  and  when  he  came  home  there  was  a  locust  crawling  on 
the  top  of  his  hat.  I  took  the  crawler  gently  off"  upon  my 
finger,  and  it  crawled  up  to  the  tip  of  my  finger  and  held  fast, 
and  was  still.  Then  Mr.  Auble  and  Henrietta  and  Moses 
came  to  the  table  and  watched  it  with  me,  for  thirty  or  forty 
minutes.  After  it  was  still  for  eight  or  ten  minutes,  it  began 
to  draw  itself  up,  shortening  itself  and  becoming  thicker.  Then 
we  began  to  see  a  little  band  up  and  down  on  its  back,  which 
grew  wider  and  wider  till  it  opened,  and  then  the  locust  slowly 
pushed  its  head  and  body  out  of  the  shell.     At  first  it  was  al- 


li 


342    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

bTci  :^;:'  rr  z:^-^  ^^-.^ir?.  -'-- 

and  thev  ooened  fir  J  li^^^^      n  f "  ^^ -'^^^^  them  out  slowly 

and  lull  Y  ^^^^  ^'^^^  coming  out  of  a  jack  knife- 

ana  then  they  spread  out  like  a  fin    rr^^r  *  *  j**^*^  Knire, 

verv  fast      1  thir.).  ;.  "'  getting  wider  and  longer 

which  on  the  tip  of  my  finger  was  chan-'l  ""V''""^'' 

a  flver   flew  ;.«,..„  .^  ""S"  J^^s  changed  from  a  craw  er  into 

which  all  Ivnn^         ^^""^   •"'  P"'  °f  'he  >4<,rr->S<,r,-./i<,^r 

"Papa." 
In  a  letter  from  Peapac-k,  Easter  Suuday,  he  writes  • 

"  My  dear  Boy  Moses  : 

••  I  am  ^elad  'thl'^  ^""'^^  '""'^^  ''"^''^  ^'"  ^^^t  letter  to  you 
Keep  uTthtl !  haCanT  ^""^^'"1'  ""   ^""^  ^<^'^°°'  rf^-ies! 

oni/  A.te;dTi?ctreTd^'o°u:Zit\rp^i:^°'r''  •'°^^ 

heavenly  Father  in  all  things  '^^"^  '°  P'^^'*  y"""- 

It  is'a' gr^TLrcv'oTth^T  ""J'  ^^  "'"  "^^^  ^^'^  again.' 
-.  ani  do  e^Hinl  It  w^S.  '^C!  t^  all  S^  "r 


THE  MAN 


343 


I) 


hands  and  feet,  and  our  minds  and  hearts  to  love  the  Lord, 
and  to  do  every  kind  and  right  and  good  thing  that  we  can 
find  to  do. 

"I  went  out  at  eleven  o'clock  this  forenoon  and  climbed  the 
hickory  tree  near  the  meadow  gate  and  shook  it  and  then  I 
picked  up  almost  half  a  bushel  of  fine  and  large  hickory-nuts, 
and  I  picked  a  barrel  of  large  sweet  apples  from  the  tree  across 
the  lawn. 

**  Write  me  all  you  have  upon  your  heart  for  I  will  do  all  I 
can  to  help  you ;  but  fail  not  to  seek  the  help  of  your  heavenly 
Father.  ^ 

**May  His  blessing  be  with  you  ! 

"Austin  Craig." 

This  little  boy  Moses  was  named  for  his  grandfather, 
Moses  Craig,  whose  father,  grandfather,  and  great-grand- 
father had  all  borne  the  same  name.  Dr.  Craig  used  to 
say  jokingly,  ^'  Moses  is  named  for  his  fore  (four)  fathers," 
and  often  spoke  of  the  importance  of  good  ancestry,  that 
it  was  something  to  be  thankful  for  to  come  of  a  line  of 
good,  clean,  upright  men  and  women.  He  said :  *  ^  It  is  well 
to  be  born  again,  but  it  is  a  good  thing  to  be  born  well  the 
first  time." 

The  accompanying  facsimile  letter  illustrates  not  only 
his  understanding  of  child  life  and  its  interests  but  shows 
how  admirably  he  could  stimulate  interest  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  letter  itself. 

From  the  very  many  characteristic  letters  to  his  little 
flock  these  additional  paragraphs  must  suffice  : 

**  Dear  Ones: 

''  1  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  all  well.     All  well  here, 
and  very  beautiful  weather. 

"  I  send  by  this  mail  the  book,  '  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.*  I 
hope  you  will  all  try  to  make  the  best  use  of  your  opportunity 
to  learn.  Tell  my  dear  little  Autie  to  try  hard  and  learn  his 
lessons  ;  they  will  be  of  great  use  to  him  when  he  has  the  work 
of  a  man  to  do. 


/"  /* 


344    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CKAIG 


I' 


"  His  flower  plant  (Lady's  slipper)  by  the  front  door  here, 
escaped  the  frost  ainl  has  grown  very  pretty  and  is  in  full 
flower  now.  And  Rachel's  almond  tree  is  still  green  and  grow- 
ing. I  turn  a  barrel  over  it  every  night.  What  are  you  all  doing 
now  every  day?  Can  you  keep  warm?  Barefoot  days  are 
ended  for  the  season.  Don't  let  the  little  people  be  out  in  cold 
winds  and  dampness.  Yesterday  1  picked  a  bushel  of  grapes 
and  laid  them  up  until  you  all  come. 

"  My  love  to  you  all — dear  children.  May  the  heavenly 
Father  keep  you  unto  His  service  and  love  forever  more  ! 

"  Papa. 

"Tell  Josie  that  I  saw  the  little  kitten  last  night.  It  does 
not  seeni  well.     I  patted  it  kindly  for  her." 

**  The  strawberries  are  beginning  to  ripen.  Tell  the  dear 
little  ones  there  is  a  cat-bird's  nest  in  the  apple-tree  by  the 
corner  of  the  back  porch  ;  a  wren's  nest  in  the  back  porch  ;  a 
robin's  nest  in  the  honeysuckle  bush  ;  a  dove's  nest  in  the  big 
pear-tree  ;  gray  squirrels  in  the  woods  ;  and  the  old  hen  has  ten 
little  chickens,  only  two  days  old.     The  dear  little  things  !  " 

**  I  picked  a  large  handful  of  very  large  ripe  strawberries  yes- 
terday off"  the  new  bed.  Wish  I  could  have  put  them  into  some 
little  mouths  1  know  of. 

"  My  dear  little  seven-year-old  !  Seven  kisses  from  your 
papa  !  And  you  can  give  them  on  your  birthday  to  your  dear 
mamma  and  brothers  and  sisters. 

**  All  the  cats  are  well  and  there  are  many  little  chickens, 
three  calves  and  eleven  youngster  pigs." 

And  then  the  lettei-s  of  love  !  Many  of  them  there  are, 
letters  of  the  long  ago,  written  in  the  glow  of  youth  ;  in 
maturer  years  when  love  grows  broader,  but  who  shall 
say  deeper!— letters  of  affection  to  an  aged,  dim-eyed 
mother,  waiting  calm -faced  for  the  Last  Dawn  ;  lettera 
written  of  the  dead  ;  letters  from  the  heart  of  a  noble  man. 
They  prove  him,  were  it  needful,  rich  beyond  measure  in 
that  which  reaches  out  beyond  the  short  love- times  of 
earth  and  takes  hold  on  immortality. 

Dr.  Craig  exemplified  the  Bible  injunction  to  use  hos- 


TnorriLn^  before  sun*r/se 
I  tre/it  dohrn  t  tHe  7nea,£ow  a.n3L  picked,  up  a^peck  of  hukcTif' 
■nuts  Jof  m^  little  squirrels  %  ea,t  next  winter.  I hsiye 

^AtTiereei   ^lctx,t  a  lusTiel  a,nci  a^hsLlj kzlfjL  IsLr-T-eZ -- 

of  Ttice  111 ckoi^tf: nuts,  a.ncL  som^  Sutter- nuts.    IjB^st 

evening  1  ptclced  the  J>eSLc7ies   cjj  The  be^^cli: tree 
iejore    cur    SciztX- door.    They  were  veru  nice 

T^ed    cTiee^s.  There  fvere  /u,o  liisTieZs  ^a,7iSLl£ 
^enou^^h    tS  Jill  SL  is^rral.    1  took  fi  o^  S dozen, 

cf  The   iic^est  &.Hd  J>rettiest  ones   dot^/t  to 
Mr:  Morrill"^  house  IsLst  evening ;&^ Xt^dsiy  X 


^ox 


H 


4.  ?i<ce  ia^s^e^-JuZl  £  ^  dinner'/klleatj^ 


4S.  i 


hour   C3^/ii^£  /fie.  ?*^/n3.in/^^  Jye^teZes  /^r-  ics 


The  Trees  Are  Very  lri^£t  Aer^^  Ty-^  ^^eTZauf  S^hur^Ze 


J^I^c^t'jl  Send.  Aissef  ^/<ov 
^i7ess  u^u  all! 


Vj^a^eh  el  y Moses 
ea,veh  hIkMer  kee^ 


<« 


PAPA 


THE  MAN 


345 


pitality  without  grudging.  Frieuds  smilingly  recaU  the 
Le  /hen  he  iuvited  an  cnlir.  audience  at  the  In« 
Building  to  adjourn  to  his  home  for  supper,  there  being 
fc^nt  time  for  them  to  go  to  their  homes  and  return  for 
tht  eve'ng  services.  About  seventy-five  availed  them- 
selves  of  his  invitation  ! 


..  Some  twenty-five  years  ago  more  or  l«s."  r^^^^f^ 
Edwin  L.  Goodwin,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  I  a^'^^d  at 
Sfanfordville  N  Y.,  one  dark  and  raniy  evening.  Ahghtmg 
?rom°he  tilu  I  lear'ned  I  had  to  wait  unfl  the  tra.n  passed  out, 

'°  ^.  WhilJwS  I  noticed  a  gentleman  standing  a  short  dis- 
tance from  me  holding  a  perforated  tin  lantern  contammg  a 

"^IfA^uS'^iad  in  what  direction  was  the  hotel  ?     He  replied  : 
•  Across  the  track,'  and  pointed  m  .ts  d'rect.on      The  genUe 
n,an  with  the  lantern  ca.ne  to  me  ami  satd  :       P^-^^"  'J^^' "^'^ 
1  hear  vou  enquire  tlie  direction  of  the  hotel  ?       1  answereu, 
.  Ye,  sfr  •     He  said,  '  When  the  train  leaves-.f  you  will  per- 
mit me-I  will  light  your  way.'  .    ^ 
.'  After  leaving  the  station  I  enquired.  Is  not  this  ur.  craig  r 
Receiving  an  affirmative  answer  1  asked  whether  Dr.  A    H^ 
MoTriUwas  in  town.     After  informing  n,e  that  he  was  not   he 
enquired  whether  I  was  acquainted  with  Dr.  Morrill  ^Iso  where 
I   w,,  from  and   what  was  my   name  ?     I  told   him   i    Knew 
Dr    Mo  r         I  was  from  Boston,  Mass.,  and  my  name  was 
iL    Goodwin.     He    immediately  repeated  E    L.  Goodwm 
1  T^^P<r  then  said  •     '  If  your  name  was  Edwin  Goodwm 
itToudrean  "Winner 'of  Good."     If  it  was  Edward  Goodwm 

3  mean  "  Good  won.'".    I  remarked  that  my  name  w 
V.Kvin   but  I  had  not  yet  attained  to  the  definition.     l.ater  ne 
faid"  There        another  hotel  here  to  which  I  -ould  recom- 
mend  you  '     Suspecting  his  intention  to  entertain  me,  I  thanked 
hhn  but  declined'to  act  upon  his  suggestion,  and  requested  that 

•^^f  So^ e^S'  ItVSilg^^Vt  :^^^he  mansion  house 
occup^T  by  D^Craig.     He invit'ed  me  in,  apojog-ed |^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
alone^all  4  family  were  away  from  hoine  a^  the  'me)^-d^m 
sisted  that  I  remain  with  him.     He  tooR  me  uui 


346    LIFE  AND  LETTEES  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

man's  to  tea  and  later  to  one  of  his  inimitable  lectures,  which 
he  delivered  to  the  students  that  evening,  the  most  wonderfu 

Jst!!;*.ed.  ''      '""'^  "''""^  ""^^^''^  "^^^'^  ^  ^--  -er 

"After  the  lecture  we  returned  to  the  house,  and  sat  down  in 

the  library,  before  an  open  coal  fnc,  vvhich  he  had  keiH  aKv 

carpet       I  his  was  done  unconsciously,  his  mind  bein^r  occuoied 
C     L'emerTat  T"'  ^"^.^^-^^her  than  houfe  Sh 

''After  Xlf  T    ."'".""''^  .'^''.  ^'^^"^^  ^^^"^^^f  ^^^^*  '^'^^"i^^g. 
Alter  breakfast,  whicli  we  had  at  good  Brother  Carman's 

stUut         "'"  ''"  ''"  ^""P^^^^  "^  ^'^  Christian  Bibllcd  In! 

-He  continued  his  interesting  conversation  while  he  walked 
wrth  me  a  mile  nearly  to  Bangal  Station  where  1  was  to  talfe  the 

"This    was   my   only  interview  with    the  most   courteous 
hospitable,  entertaining  host  I  have  ever  met  and  mronly  op 

Craig"  U  D" """''"'    ''''   """^"'"^    ^^^^^^^^'    ^-     A^stli. 


It  was  the  custom  of  Dr.  Craig  to  bring  tho  students 
upon  their  arrival,  to  his  home  for  the  tirst  few  days  or 
m  some  eas(vs  even  weeks  and  also  when  they  were  ill  or 
111  trouble.     One  year  eaeh  student  iu  turn  was  invited  to 
spend  a  week  as  a  member  of  Dr.  Craig's  family 

On  oue  occasion  at  the  dinner  tabh,  mention  was  made 
of  Its  being  the  tirst  time  iu  several  weeks  without  guests. 
VV  hile  this  was  being  commented  ui>on,  some  one  looked 
up  and  sjiw  two  strangers  approaching  with  satchels. 
Kxtra  plat<^s  were  speedily  i>rox  idc^l  and  the  guests  were 
met  and  w(>leomed. 

The   kerper  of  the  village  inn  was   instructed  by  Dr 
t  nug  to  provuh^  at  his  ("xpense  hxlging  or  meals  to  any 
uerdy  person  unable  to  pay  for  them. 

One  day,  a  tramp  wh(»  had  travelled  mauv  miles  came 
to  the  door  saying  that  away  up  in  Counecticut  he  had 
been  told  to  follow  t:r.  railroad  till  he  saw  the  college 


THE  MAN 


347 


with  the  golden  cross  aud  uear  by  lived  a  good  man  who 
would  give  him  something  to  eat. 

An  old  mau  who  knew  Austiu  Craig  in  his  eai'ly  man- 
hood relates  an  incident  which  well  illustrates  another 
phase  of  his  many-sided  personality.  It  was  on  an  Ohio 
river  steamer  bound  tor  Cincinnati.  There  were  at  least 
three  hundred  piussengers.  The  captain  learning  that 
Dr.  Austin  Craig,  then  i)resident  of  Antioch,  was  on 
board,  invited  him  to  hold  a  preaching  service.  The  an- 
nouncement wius  made  and  Dr.  Craig  spoke  in  the  dining- 
salon,  which  was  crowded  with  a  motley  throng.  The 
subject  was  ^'  Breaking  olT  our  Sins." 

Directly  in  front  of  Dr.  Craig  Siit  a  cattle  drover, 
dressed  in  his  rough  plainsman's  suit  with  long  boots 
above  his  knees,  a  broad-brimmed  hat  resting  on  one 
knee  and  his  big  stock  whip  lying  across  it.  He  was 
plainly  somewhat  the  worse  for  whiskey,  but  he  paid 
close  attention  and  endorsed  the  speaker's  views  with 
frequent  exclamations  of  *^  That's  so  !  "  "1  know  that ! " 
**  Sure  !  "  to  the  evident  surprise  and  amusement  of  some 
of  the  audience. 

When,  however,  they  sjiw  that  the  preacher  was  not  at 
all  disturbed,  they  quieted  down  and  resumed  attention 
to  the  sermon.  In  his  talk  Dr.  Craig  laid  stress  upon  the 
point  that  men  in  sin  thought  they  would  some  time  re- 
form, could  reform,  indeed,  when  they  had  '^  a  mind  to  "  ; 
but  that  the  time  came  at  last  when  habit  had  conquered 
the  will,  when  they  were  bond  slaves  in  a  free  country, 
and  had  lost  the  power  to  reform,  and  no  help  was  left 
save  through  Christ. 

He  then  related  an  incident  in  his  own  experience. 
In  college  he  had  become  addicted  to  the  use  of  tobacco. 
One  Sunday  morning  he  was  to  preach  on  ^^Self-denial." 
As  was  his  custom  he  w^as  walking  in  the  fields  in  the 
early  morning,  thinking  over  his  sermon.     He  reached 


M 


348     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

into  his  pocket  for  toba<.co,  when  it  suddenly  occurred  to 
l»m  thut  thi8  habit,  which  was  both  di^igreeable  and 
expensive,   wa«  scarcely  permissible  in  a  man  who  w^ 

}  ou  urge  seit-deniiil  upon  others  V 

His  first  impulse  was  to  s,.udword  to  his  congregation 
that  he  was  sick,   for  he  hi.i  „r.  „fi.  fo'tfeauon 

h,.t  ♦!  ^  •  "°  °'"*''"  sermon  prei)ared 

but  the  unfairness  of  it  all  came  over  him  •  he  ofl  -red -1 
quick  prayer  for  help,   threw  the  tobacco 'as  f^rafhe 

ri;":  V"''' !:•  v'"'^'  ■'  ••^•""-"-dent,  pre.;:hed 

iiib  seiDiou  ou  sell-den  jil     'm*!    «c^..i    *  i 

mu^    X  ,  ueiiicii,   cind   used   tobacco   uo  more 

mtle  r^   related  iu  the  simple  yet  powerful  way  t, mi 

thTn:ttr\H*^  eougregatiou  and  upou  uoue  m.^^ 
Itds  win.  n    '^'^'^^^^^''^^'-^  -^0'-«-r  the  service  shook 

of 'Ike'tarr"'"'^  '"''  '"'   ^"^^'"^^^^^^  descriptiou 

ui  of  Jll  "f^""^P^^^^^""^"t  «f  "uich  by  meaus  of  strict 

It  wc^e  Z      ^  "r'"'""'-     ^'  ''''''  '^''''  *^«"^'  -«  though 
It  weie  the  only  hour.     Other  hours  might  come  to  him 

o~ne  h  ul  H  T  ''\  '"^""  *^  '""^''^  ^  ^^^^  ^^^^ 
one  hour  that  was  known  to  be  available  for  service      To 

him  waste  of  time  was  hard  by  grievous  sinni  g.*    H^ 

lid  not   however,  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  must 

be  cessation  from  labour,  relaxation,  varietv,  chaZTn 

lines  Of  thought,  for  these  were  e^ential  to  LtTuse 

In  the  diaries  which  he  kept  he  was  peculiarly  precise 
^^ii^^i::^'  fth  the  utmost  limLf  cond'enX 
e-   Iv  in  nln      •  .     '  ^'"'^'''"  ^"""^  ^«^^'  ^^  «^t  down 

S  Scter  ^  c    r        '"''^"  ^"'^^  "^^^^^  -^  «-  -Pt  and 
Characteristic  that  they  are  here  reproduced.     Dr  Craig 


THE  MAN 


349 


in  writing  always  used  a  quill  pen.     Facing  the  pages  on 
which  these  rules  appear  he  wrote  : 

**  Ye  are  not  your  own  ;  ye  are  bought  with  a 
price;  wherefore  glorify  God  in  your  bodies 
and  your  sjjiritSj  which  are  if/s.'^ 


PROPERTY 

'*  The  silver  and  the  gold  is  Mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts y 

1.  Do  not  be  careless  of  Money  or  Value. 

2.  Retrench  as  much  as  possible :  but  not  at  the  sacrifice 

of  Health  or  Duty. 

3.  To  ask  myself,  Do  I  need  this  ?     And  will  it  be  worth 

to  me  what  it  costs  ? 

4.  Avoid  expenditures  for  trifles. 

5.  In  Buying  or  Selling,   deal  in  a  manly  and  Christian 

manner. 

6.  "Owe  no  man  anything." 

7.  Keep  a  correct  record  of  all  business  transactions. 

8.  Do  business  in  a  businesslike  way. 

9.  Leave  nothing  at  "loose-ends." 


I 

2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 

letter. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

Be  careful  what  you  commit  to  paper. 

Avoid  letter-writing  tattle. 

Make  the  Ps  as  small  as  Christian  modesty  requires. 

Write  as  usefully  as  possible. 

Be  frank  and  faithful  in  letters. 

Keep  letters  one  day  before  maihng,  if,  etc. 

Be  duly  respectful. 

Be  prompt  to  reply  to  letters  received. 

Read  these  rules,  or  remember  them,  before  beginning  a 


I. 
2. 


PREACHING 

"  Preach  the  Word  "—the  Truth  that  Saves, 
Don't  preach  too  long  sermons. 


350    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


It    is     the 


6. 

7- 
8. 


lo. 
II. 

12. 

14. 
15- 


I. 

3. 


3- 
4. 


Cultivate    dignity    of    manner.     .     . 

Lord's  message. 
Avoid  all   words  and  statements  that  would  not  seem 

rercher^^  '''  ^''"^  "'''"^^'  ""^  *'*'"''"  ^*'"'^'  ""'^'"^  ^^  ^^^ 

Mention  as  little  as  possible  controversies   and   con- 

troyertists.—Always     respectfully.      -  Michael     the 

archangel,   when    contending    with  the   devil,  durst 

not  l)rnig  a  railing  accusation  against  him  " 

Be  pomted,   earnest,    evangelical,   faithful   to   Christ's 

message,  and  to  human  souls. 
Study  the  models  in  the  New  Testament,  Jesus— Paul 
l^reach  plamly  :   that  all  may  understand. 
Give  to  all   their   portion  of  meat  in  due  season:   but 
especial ly  * '  Feed  the  lambs. ' ' 

In  every  sermon,  if  possible,  address  something  to  the 
Voung.  ^ 

Make  thorough  preparation  for  the  Pulpit. 

Enter  the  Pulpit  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 

Be  ready  to  preach,  whenever  and  wherever'  there  is  a 

desire  to  hear. 
Preach  as  much  as  is  advisable. 
Study   the   methods    and    history   of  those  who  have 

been    successful    in    -turning    many    to   righteous- 

ness.    —But   do   not    become   a    mere   imitator   of 

others'  ways. 

PASTORSHIP 

Have  a  list  of  the  families  and  names  of  the  congrega- 

tion,  and  visit  among  them  regularly. 
Make  the  visits  as  profitable  as  possible. 

(i)     Converse  if  possible  U|)on  Divine  themes 
Endeavour     to    interest     and     instruct 
children. 

Take  some  good  reading-matter  to  them. 
Encourage  them  to  procure  good  books. 
Don't  make  the  visits  too  long. 
lr^^.-  c     ^l^^^  ""'  possible,  pray  with  the  families, 
l^k  after  the  young  people :  especially  those  who  are 

m  service  away  from  home. 
Embrace  opportunities  of  visiting  the  sick  and   those 
who  are  in  affliction. 


(2) 

(3) 
(4) 
(5) 
(6) 


the 


THE  MAN 


351 


5.  Try  to  make  peace. 

6.  Frequently  read  the  list  of  the  names  of  the  congrega- 

tion— tTziakoTzttu, 

TIME 

** Redeeming  the  time,** 

I.     To  do  the  most  possible  of  the  highest  use. 
a.     To  use  the   most  favourable  hours  in  doing  the  best 
works. 

3.  To  have  some  work  always  on  my  Register,  with  which 

I  may  occupy  the  otherwise  unemployed  moments. 

4.  Am  I  engaged  in  anything  which  I  can  as  well  omit? 

5.  Can  I  properly  abridge  what  I  am  doing? 

6.  Plan  for  to-morrow  :  What  to  be  done,  What  visits  to 

be  made,  etc.,  *'  if  the  Lord  will." 


I 
2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 


HEALTH 

'*  The  Body  is  for  the  Lord.** 

Avoid  unnecessary  exposure. 

Clothe  warmly  and  exercise  forethought. 

Bathe  enough  for  cleanliness  and  vigour. 

Avoid  an  excessively  warm  room. 

Breathe  a  pure  atmosphere. 

Exercise  enough  for  Health. 

Keep  the  person  erect.     Expand  the  Lungs. 

Beware  of  night-study. 

Retire  early  to  bed.     Nine  o'clock? 


Dr.  Craig  was  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived 
in  other  Hues  than  theology.  He  was  deeply  interested 
in  science  at  a  time  when  it  was  not  always  considered  a 
minister's  duty  to  know  science  as  well  as  the  Bible, 
when,  in  fact,  science  and  religion  were  by  very  many 
held  to  be  sharply  antagonistic.  On  one  occasion  he  took 
with  him  to  Albany,  New  York,  a  number  of  the  young 
people  of  his  Blooming  Grove  parish  in  order  that  they 
might  attend  with  him  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Amer- 


352    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

ican  Association  for  the  AdvaDcement  of  Science,  an  or- 
ganization in  whose  proceedings  he  always  took  deep  in- 
terest. 

Dr.  Craig  always  showed  the  most  tender  consideration 
for  his  mother  and  loyalty  to  her  little  personalities. 
Dr.  Hathaway  tells  how  during  one  of  his  visits  when 
Mrs.  Craig  had  just  left  the  room,  he  turned  to  her  son 
with  the  question,  *^How  old  is  your  mother!^'  The 
reply  waij,  ''  VV^iy  don't  you  iisk  her  r'  '^  I  feared  she 
might  not  think  it  polite  of  me,"  said  Dr.  Hathaway. 
^^She  wouldn't  have  told  you  if  you  had,"  said  the  son. 
**  And  neither  did  he,"  was  Dr.  Hathaway^s  laughing 
comment. 

Dr.  Craig  was  unique  in  his  methods  of  dealing  with 
students  when  called  upon  to  settle  their  difficulties  and 
to  restore  harmony. 

The  hour  for  his  afternoon  lecture  was  three  o'clock, 
but  a  news(u(k'tit  thought  it  would  betU'r  suit  his  own 
convenience  to  have  the  lecture  at  one  o'clock,  and  so 
informed  the  student  whose  duty  it  was  to  ring  the  bell, 
requesting  that  the  change  be  made.     The  bell-ringer  re- 
fused to  make  any  change  without  instructions  from  Dr. 
Craig,  to  whom  the  new  student  then  carried  his  request 
for  a  change  of  hour.     Dr.  Craig  mildly  replied  he  would 
come  for  his  lecture  when  the  bell  rang.     Back  to  the 
bell-ringing  student  hied  the  dissatisfied  one  with  orders 
to  ring  the  bell  for  the  afternoon  lecture  at  one  o'clock. 
By  this  time  the  bell-ringer  was  out  of  patience  and  re- 
plied witli  some  warmth  that  Dr.   Craig's  lecture  had 
always  come  at  three  o'clock  and  he  wasn't  going  to 
change  the  ringing  of  the  l)ells  for  every  Tom,  Dick  and 
Harry  who  asked  him.     The  student  in  much  excitement 
hastened  to  Dr.  Craig  with  the  complaint  he  had  been 

insulted,  that  Mr.  B had  caUed  him  Tom,  Dick  and 

Harry. 


THE  MAN 


353 


At  the  close  of  the  lecture  that  afternoon  Dr.  Ciaig 
turned    to    the   student  who  rang  the  beU  and  said  : 

**  Brother   B ,    Brother  complains  that  you 

called  him  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry.  When  you  have  oc- 
casion to  refer  to  those  worthies  again,  suppose  you  say 
Thomas,  Richard  and  Harrison  !  " 

Dr.  Craig  was  a  man  of  singularly  beautiful  character, 
combining  with  the  rare  and  sweet  qualities  of  his  life, 
manliness  and  power.  He  was  one  of  the  most  winsome 
as  well  as  the  most  talented  of  men.  There  was  nothing 
unkind  or  ungenerous  or  unchristian  in  his  nature.  He 
was  ever  tolerant  of  the  belief  of  others,  always  broadly 
and  sanely  liberal.  He  was  for  years  conspicuous  in  his 
denomination  as  an  apostle  of  freedom  of  thought,  abso- 
lutely fearless  in  his  presentation  of  the  truth,  no  matter 
how  it  suited  others ;  and  yet,  while  he  was  so  liberally 
inclined  that  he  sometimes  may  have  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  some  of  the  ultra  orthodox,  he  yet  adhered 
with  a  fine  and  strong  consistency  to  what  he  considered 
the  essentials. 

His  life  was  singularly  pure  and  sweet,  his  personality 
was  most  charming,  his  character  was  full  and  noble,  his 
scholarship  distinguished,  his  learning  profound. 

In  personal  appearance  Dr.  Craig  was  tall  and  very 
spare  of  frame  but  with  a  fine  carriage — the  man  you 
turn  to  look  at  a  second  time  as  the  throng  goes  by. 

One  time  when  Dr.  Craig  was  visiting  the  Connecticut 
Legislature  as  the  guest  of  Hon.  David  Clark  of  Hartford, 
one  of  the  members  came  to  Mr.  Clark  and  asked  him 
who  was  the  man  with  the  two-story  brain. 

Perfect  care  of  his  person  was  a  part  of  his  nature — 
his  dress  was  distinctive  but  never  obtrusive  and  he  wore 
it  as  a  gentleman.  He  appreciated  neatness  in  others. 
In  writing  to  his  wife  concerning  a  Chinese  servant  he 
was  sending  from  New  York  to  the  family's  summer 


354    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

home  iu  New  Jersey,  he  said :    "  I  hope  he  will  take 
knjdly   to  scrubbing  and  that  he  will  begin  with  hia 

"It   is  the  fortune  of  few   men,"  writes  Profe«f.r   c;»i,», 
Howell,  .'  to  be  able  to  bring  to  the  battle  nfurt,        '^'^ 

.^H.ses.u  of  th^t^^h  '^r.urh.Si;".s  ^^ 

helu^ToJ  tL'^Ser^Se"''^'   'f "■«*"'  '""^  "^  "^y  -" 
from  both    thol    ,^  ,.^i'  ,  '^"=e?'"«''  ^-'fy  organization  ;  and 

.he  nrt'tred'S';^::;:  s  ""^  ^^^^isi  ^Jir 

thin  form  siimrf^vr^H  f..,;i*       r  •        ^'^^'g  =>  tall  and  rather 

tio»  was  o/r^XtS  ™1S'"S  stS;ireTS 

brra^rnrsrSr-'"^"^'  "^^''^"""^  ^'-d.  stretch',  iS 

col^nvoTl/n"*^  face  would  have  arrested  attention  in  any 

e°vTno  h  n^or  ^^  ''"'  °^  "^^'  cosmopolitan  cast  tha^ 

fhe,V  hneamen.s    of  t"'  .?"•  J°"  thought,  as  you  studied 
int^ir  lineaments,  of  Jonathan   Edwards    MenH^lQcnKt.     t^u 

wa?  tl^'Se'S' r  f  "r  ^'''-"-g  -d'vSSuV""^ ; 

was  the  tace  and  head  of  a  man  equal  to  anv  intHlprfn^l  f^Jl 
and^an^mtensity  and  loft.ness  of  spliituaUxr^nSeam^'g 

vf^:nTpoVeSXSe%S^^^ 

19^8   11^11;,"";*?  '''""  ^'^'   ^™°^«'   '"  February, 
1908^  Mrs.  Julia  J.  Irvine,  formerly  president  of  Welles 

ZS    Ze'Z^'r  "  ^ermsof  dc^p^ppreoiationTf  Dr. 

toT,^  .  r^  '  bousehold,  and  she  had  not  failed 

to  feel  his  powerful  influence.     To  one  of  Dr    Cm  L'« 

^^Zriir'T    '"^''^^  ^  suit"abi:?eLSaro 

"  cui  HIS  mends.     I  wish  very  much  that  I  might 


THE  MAN 


355 


have  even  the  smallest  share  in  honouring  your  father^s 
memory.  The  kindness  received  from  him  and  your 
mother,  at  a  turning  point  of  my  development,  was  very 
great  and  very  judicious  ;  their  example  was  an  inspira- 
tion and  a  continuing  ideal  of  life.'^ 

Rich  in  splendid  character  ;  instinct  with  all  desire  to 
aid  the  world ;  kind  to  every  being  and  to  every  living 
creature ;  bearing  heavy  burdens  but  never  shifting  them 
upon  the  backs  of  others;  democratic  but  yet  aristo- 
cratic ;  beset  with  bodily  weakness  and  pain  but  facing 
each  day  with  a  calm  brow;  loyal  to  his  hearths  last 
drop  ;— is  it  not  a  rare  life,  worthy  to  be  patterned  among 
men  I 


(»i 


ill 


¥ 


XIX 

IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 

IN  the  year  1880  Dr.  Craig  was  married  to  Dr.  Sarah 
J.  McCani,  of  Kocliester,  New  York,  a  womau  of 
hue  qualities,  of  stroug  character,  of  deep  sympathy 
with  his  life-work,  a  woman  greatly  beloved  iu  the  city 
lu  which  she  lived  aud  by  all  who  came  in  contact  with 
her      Au  invalid  iu  her  youuger  years,  she  became,  on 
restoration  to  health,  eager  to  devote  her  life  to  the  cur- 
nig  of  the  ailments  of  others.     Under  the  presidency  of 
Horace  Mann  she  had  bt^'ii  a  student  at  Antioch  College 
and,  after  her  course  there,  entered,  and  was  graduated 
from,  the  Woman's  Mediciil  College  of  Philadelphia     She 
entered  practice  in  Rochester, -the  second  woman  physi- 
cian in  that  city, -and  won  her  way  not  only  into  a  large 
and  lucrative  practice  but  into  the  hearts  of  the  people 
She  joined  the  Christian  Clairch  while  a  student  at  Antioch 
and  was  a  constant,   and  generous,   contributor  to  the 
various  denominational  interests.     She  paid  the  expenses 
of  several    students  of   the    institute.     She   was  twice 
chosen  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  institute 
once  in  1880,  for  two  years  ;  again,  in  1882,  for  a  term  of 
SIX  years. 

The  Biblical  In.'.titute  was  now  at  the  highest  point  of 
service  ,t  had  reached.  It  was  Dr.  Craig's  practice  to 
prepare  each  year  for  publication  an  announcement  of 
the  coming  year  of  the  institute  with  various  data  as  to 
Its  progress,  need.s,  and  the  like.  On  September  1,  1881 
such  an  announcement  from  him  appeared  in  the  Herald 
of  Gospel  Lrbe,iy.     The  following  paragraph  suggests  the 

356 


Y 


UK.  SARAH   MtCAKN  CKAIG 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


357 


earnestness  of  his  purpose  in  every  minor  detail  of  the 
work  of  the  institute — he  could  not  so  much  as  send  out 
a  formal  announcement  of  the  school  without  using  some 
word  that  should  arrest  and  hold  the  attention  : 


"  Persons  already  ordained  to  the  ministry  will  be  welcomed 
as  students  for  a  single  year,  if  their  circumstances  forbid  a 
longer  stay.  But  the  trustees  and  teachers  especially  desire  to 
draw  to  the  institute  persons  who  will  take  the  full  course. 
Students  who  have  plenty  of  time  for  thorough  preparation,  and 
who  are  capable  of  enthusiasm  for  the  Greek  Testament,  will 
be  welcomed  in  both  Greek  and  English.  Our  Christian  con- 
nection will  go  on  crutches  until  a  goodly  proportion  of  our 
young  ministers  shall  attain  the  twofold  qualification  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart  and  the  Greek  Testament  in  the 
pocket." 

But  on  the  saiue  page  with  this  announcement  over  his 
own  name,  appeared  another  one,  the  announcement  of 
his  death.  Stricken  with  mortal  illness  he  had  died 
within  a  few  hours.  The  thousands  of  people  who  had 
come  to  know  this  man  personally,  the  tens  of  thousands 
who  knew  him  through  his  life-work  and  word,  were  in- 
expressibly shocked  by  this  swift  ending  of  the  noble  life, 
scarcely  yet  in  its  prime.  On  the  26th  of  August,  1881, 
he  was  at  work  in  his  usual  health  around  the  lovely 
grounds  of  his  home  at  Stanfordville.  He  had  been 
gathering  fruit  and  working  among  the  flowers  in  his 
garden,  the  flowers  he  so  passionately  loved,  until  late  in 
the  evening.  Before  he  went  to  bed  he  read  aloud  to  his 
children,  strangely  enough,  Plato^s  treatise  on  death. 
While  yet  the  night  was  young  he  was  suddenly  taken 
ill,  and  within  an  hour  or  two  it  was  apparent  that  the 
end  was  nearing. 

Would  you  learn  how  such  a  man  dies?  How,  after  a 
life  of  the  noblest  service  to  his  race,  unfolding  behind 
him  like  some  splendid  tapestry  in  whose  fadeless  weav- 


368    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

ings  all  the  future  might  learn  of  his  deeds  -how  snoh  « 
mau  meets  the  last  enemjt  ^     ^low  such  a 

frienrnr' W^""*  "'^'^^  ^"""^  ^^^  P«°  «f  his  long-time 
friend,  Dr.  Warren  Hathaway,  Dr.  Craig's  successor  Crl 
to  this  present  day  stiU  the  pastor  of  Zr?    ' 
Grove  Cliurcli :  ^  Blooming 

like  a\ay  from  The  Le?llo  I  1^     T"  '"'"^  "'^'  ^°  of'-n. 
self-possessed  as  he  ever  S^'  h  "P, '"^,^°nderful  face.     A 
love  of  the  father    the  sT  the  hr'h   ^i'  "'^  '^^"P'  deathless 
beaming  from  every  featZ'  h.  ,h"    X'*'  ^"'^  "'^  Christian 
family.     All  were  there   t  J'  ''^,  "i^"  addressed  his  assembled 

Death  seemed  to  w^t  to  Lause^'f  ^K^w""  '"'^  "^^  ^''^  children 
by  the  hand  each  one  of  th«  ^^  ^°°''  ^=  ''^  '^"^erly  took 
his  dying  counsel  and  h°s  btsrnrK^'^''  ''"'^  ^^'^ ''"^^ 
his  mind  was  as  clear  as  his  l^vT^'  t  ^^'  *"P'^'"«  ""anient 
fitted  to  address  wise  aff^ction,^?'  V^"''  ""'^  ^^  ^^'  P^^' 
cious  memories  m«t  forever  t^^  """f^l  '°  '"'•  ^^'^at  pre- 
The  little  ones,  "he  three  vou^'l"."^  k  f  't^'^'^'^  =^^"e  ! 
heart  clung  to    hem  '     AnH  y°.""S'=«'-oh  !    how  his  father's 

say  '  farewfu  °  '  y^,'  hot  abu^da^rl.'"""'"'-"  '^^^  ''^'d  to 
the  presence  of  the  Redemer  ?h.?  n  !fl*;^  """^  ^°^  ^'^^^ 
well,  until  we  meet  at  hTm'  ''^' ""f'^.'^'^  ^""°  ^ay,  'Fare- 
Calmer  than  any  one  there  h.  TT'  ,'"  *•=  "^'""''1  home! 
kiss  to  each  one^nd  asked  thftf^'K ',!,'"''  ^''^'«'  ''^  Pa«i"g 
third  Psalm,  the^  raising  InH     ^ '''!,'^''^" '"^P^^' 'he  Twenty! 

blessed  them'.  cl^^^reU^ld^'sS;  if  S^^l^  '^^'^  ^^ 

«n.  fiLrSr^nSr  oJTr:^  ^ T^^^^ 
and  counsellor  of  common  m^n   k  ?      f  I  '  '^^'^'^^ 

«r„„„,- ,        '-"Jumon  men,  beloved  bv  an  ever  in 

creasing  number;  for  day  bv  dav    nnf^  "^  an  e^er-in- 
name,  his  words  his  infl?  ^'     ^^  ^'^'^  ^^ur,  his 

life  like  a  flaS'nc  toJch  n  °''  ^  ^'"^  ^"°^«<^  '^-^'^ 
way  of  other Tv^unTh/nT^r";  '"'"^^'^  *«  "g''*  the 
The  mor^  dSv  Snl    P?  '1*'  '^^'^^  ^  the  Maater. 
or«  aeepiy  one  studies  the  life  and  work  of  this 


1 


i' 


DR.  WARREN  HATHAWAY 

Who  succeeded  Dr.  Craig  at  the  Blooming  Grove 

Church,  and  still  remains  its  pastor 


1 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


359 


man  the  more  one  is  impressed  by  the  universality  of  the 
love  he  commanded  from  those  early  days  when  as  a 
college  student  he  first  began  to  preach  and  write  con- 
cerning the  Word  of  God,  all  along  the  brilliant  path- 
way of  successes  to  the  swift  close  of  his  life.  Surely 
there  must  have  been  something  wondrous  fine  and 
tender  and  noble  in  a  life  which  through  the  years  should 
draw  so  many  comparisons  from  those  who  came  to  know 
him  best,  comparisons  between  this  human  life  and  the 
life  of  Ilim  he  so  humbly  and  ardently  served. 

It  would  be  a  physical  impossibility  within  the  bounds 
of  this  volume  to  attempt  to  give  place  to  the  expressions 
of  regard  and  esteem  which  came  from  so  many  sources 
after  the  death  of  Dr.  Craig.  These  which  are  subjoined 
must  serve  as  types  of  those  which  may  not  be  used  : 


Rev.  Warren  Hathaway:  ''I  write  this  at  the  request  of 
children  who  revere  the  memory  of  an  affectionate  father,  and 
of  friends  who  honour  the  name  of  this  earnest,  saintly  man. 
Hence  it  is  a  labour  of  love— a  leaf  from  the  memory  of  the 
heart.  ^ 

**  In  1863  there  was  quite  an  important  gathering  of  clerev- 
men  at  Medway,  Greene  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in  attendance  on 
some  church  function.  It  was  a  meeting  of  interest  to  that 
rural  community,  and  at  the  first  public  service,  Mr  Craig 
gave  the  discourse.  I  shall  never  forget  his  introduction.  His 
text  was  I  Cor.  13:  13,  *  Now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity, 
these  three;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  charity.'  'These 
three  '—why  three  ?  Perhaps  because  of  the  grand  divisions  of 
the  earth— as  then  known.  Perhaps  because  of  the  three 
representative  nations  and  languages  of  the  world— the  He- 
brew, Greek  and  Latin.  Perhaps  because  of  the  divisions  of 
the  human  mind,  the  sensibility,  intellect  and  will. 

''  He  secured  our  attention  by  this  original  preface,  and  held 
It  for  an  hour  by  his  simple  eloquence  and  by  his  clear  state- 
ments. It  was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  him ;  and  though  I 
listened  to  him  often  in  after  years,  both  from  pulpit  and 
platform,  there  was  ever  a  charm  in  sermon  or  lecture;  for  he 


360    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

had  something  to  say,  and  it  was  so  presented  that  a  child 

might   understand,    and   a    sage   be   delighted.     He  opened 

fountains  .  where  lambs  could  dnnk;  and  deep,  «^deS 

where  leviathans  could  swim.'  F.   »"uc  pools 

"Mr.  Craig  was  not  only  a  manly  man,  but  a  considerate 

Christian    gentleman.      He    knew   L    much    more   than    hk 

ordinary  associates  that  often  it  would  not  have  been  difficult 

for  hmi  to  be  sarcastic  or  critical ;  but  there  seemed  to  ^  a 

check   upon   him,  a  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others   and  no 

guile  embittered  his  lips.     If  one  in  his  hearing  made  a  false 

ETnd"  o^eT""H  '°'"^  it  ignorantly,   he^S'surfto 
notice  and  correct.     His  corrections  were  never  offensive   nor 
from  pride  of  knowledge;  but  always  made  modesUy  in  be 
half  of  the  truth.     How  kind  and  gentle  he  was  !         ^ 

the  ancient    r,  rt7'"\"^P^^'''P' ''''•'•''"^'  P«^'°^^"^  "'^  ^'^^ 

Mr  S"s  call  tl^r"'^°^  "1'°"'"'"^  ^^°^^-     At  the  time  of 
Mr.  t-raig  s  call  to  this  church,  it  was  really  independent   even 

beyond  the  Congregational  interpretation   of  InTpendencv 
and  so  remained  under  his  ministry.     He  was  a  you"™' 
and  but  for  his  solemn  mien  and  sedate  manner,  might  have 
been  taken  for  a  boy,  although  he  had  already  served  as  naLtor 
in  New  Jersey  and  in  Fall  River,  Mass  ^  ^       "^ 

"  When  he  came  to  Blooming  Grove,  he  found  himself  under 
a  somewhat  painful  probation-hehl  aloof  and  regarded  as  an 

SrofteTrr  ^  "'ir'«''^°^'^'"^  ^^'^^^y'  -ther  tha„  " 
aisciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     But  everything  bows  to  the 

K7    dTh7t,"a'r;'rn'"^    Onebyo'nethlfoesbecam 
inends  and  the  hardest  of  all  spirits—conscientious  sectism  — 

kZtZ  °  Wh:r"'^M  '""  '°"^  ""''  "'^"'^^d  hand  in  tender 
leiiOHship.     What  will  not  gentleness  do? 

,1/ p     ,.^''^'^'*  ''°'"'"g  ^°  Blooming  Grove  was  like  the  Anos- 
It     w  ^  ^°'"S  ""?  A^'^'^'^  f°^  ^  t™e.     It   permitted  The 

H^fhe    o2l7in\t  ^'"^-^^  ^'^""^  "^-'°6'"1  ->'-> 
nere  he  could  in  the  seclusion  of  h  s  hilltop  home   not  onlv 

"    wl:  lt^^  '"^"^  '"^  TV"'  P^-^^  reU'^n  of  Got 
unejr^^^^^^^  ''^^'  -  -tten  by  no  pen,' 

providence  of  God.     The  parsonage  became  a  lighthouse  to 

tn  the'  studvTuf Vi  "'h  '"'^  ^^^"^^  "^  ^^^  ^^^P  t'at  b"rned 
in  tne  study,  but  also  because  through  him  who  trimmed  and 

kept  It  burning  glowed  the  heavenly  light. 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


361 


**  And  so  he  studied,  thought,  and  preached,  to  the  strong 
people  who  faced  him.  on  the  Sunday,  who  by  their  rever- 
ent attention  inspired  and  by  their  thoughtful  bearing  called 
forth,  the  deepest  truth  he  had  to  give.  He  had  no  fear  but 
that  the  best  he  could  do  would  be  appreciated.  He  found 
a  class  of  elderly,  devout  persons,  who  by  their  wisdom 
and  affection  aided  and  sustained  their  young  pastor.  It 
would  seem  as  if  they  had  been  providentially  educated  for 
him,  by  the  then  new  doctrinal  preaching  of  Rev.  James  Ar- 
buckle,  under  whose  ministry  the  church  had  become  inde- 
pendent. 

**  It  was  here  Mr.  Craig  married,  taking  for  his  companion, 
Miss  Adelaide  Churchill,  a  graduate  of  Antioch  College,  a 
woman  every  way  worthy  of  his  large  heart  and  pleasant  home. 
It  was  a  wise  and  tender  union,  until  an  angel  of  the  covenant 
came  and  called  her  to  *  the  upper  countries.' 

"  At  the  beginning  of  their  home-making,  Mrs.  Craig,  aided 
by  her  sister,  Miss  Churchill,  took  charge  of  the  select  school 
that  the  wise  and  economical  parishioners  had  established  near 
the  church  and  parsonage.  It  was  a  private  academy  intended 
for  more  thorough  instruction  than  was  afforded  by  the  public 
schools. 

**  Many  men  and  women  look  back  with  gratitude  to  the  in- 
struction there  given  and  honour  their  memory.  This,  how- 
ever, though  not  trifling,  is  small  compared  with  the  influence 
for  good  which  Mrs.  Craig  has  given  to  the  Church  and  the 
world. 

"  Mr.  Craig's  ministry  in  Blooming  Grove  covered  the  dark 
and  bloody  years  of  our  Civil  War.  The  labours  he  freely, 
loyally  took  upon  him  were  a  greatly  added  burden.  His  zeal 
for  the  soldiers  in  field,  camp  and  hospital  awakened  a  gener- 
ous response  in  the  community.  Supplies  came  in  and  were 
passed  over  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  thus  comforting  many 
a  suffering  hero.  While  acting  in  this  way,  as  the  almoner  of 
a  generous  people,  he  received  several  personal  letters  from 
that  rare  devoted  friend  of  all  who  suffer  in  times  of  peace  or 
war,  Miss  Dorothea  L.  Dix.  They  were  letters  of  thanks  and 
good  cheer  from  one  of  the  elect  women,  one  of  the  ministers 
of  God,  to  our  friend  and  brother,  working  in  the  same  cause; 
a  testimony  of  which  his  family  may  well  be — not  proud — but 
thankful. 

**  On  the  parish  of  Blooming  Grove,  Mr.  Craig  left  his  mark 


362    LIFE  AXD  LErmtS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

began.  And  it  was  like  the  love  nfn  >  i  t^""  """"^'^y 
unselfish  affection  based  on  qtluies  0^.7"^  IT""'"'  ?" 
recognition  of  characteristics  tha  nil  '""1^"''  heart-the 
and  members  of  one  fa  ,    t      On  '  "',  "'^  '°"'  °^  God, 

well-won    fame     as   etln      «;  .  ""^^  ^'  '^^  '""''^'^"  o^  his 

North  and  ^"st  t^it^.^^;^,^^''' '  IV  '■"  '"^^ 
q'lent  appeals  in  behilf  of  rnV  ^  J  ^"'"'''"  ^''^""^  elo- 
and  judg  „em      The  o.hl '""  ^"^  ''«'''"'  '^'"P^^^"",  justice 

as  ye{  u-fkn^n  mim^te";  oTtirCoVer"^'  "°'^^''  '"''''  ^^^ 

spe'ikt^rr  .1  j'^r;  r::;:::en;TH°' '-'  r  •  p°p"- 

nhrf»      i-r«  i;  i-        i  r^prebcnted,  Horace  Mann  had  a 

place.     He  Iistenec   to  a  sermon  frnm  \f .   r-    •  I        ^ 

prised  and  pleased    -md  "'f^^^.^^O"^  ^f^-  <-raig,  was  both  sur- 

earnest  pleading  he  besot h?h"'  '""""'^''  ='"d  ^^'"^  the  most 
preacher^  or  bmh  The^f,^  e.'fi  P^^^f/here  as  professor  or 
Mr.  Mann  ma?  be  seen  more  nLnJf  ''"1  °^^"^""  ^raig  by 
any  words  of  mine  ^       ^  '^'°'"  '"'  '"'"^  'han  from 

•TLt^ttSra;d'd,e?e"are'rnfo'f,f  """  ''"^''^"'^'   ^y- 
removal  to  Yellow  SnwLc  ^  °^  l*'^"''  "'^'"8  ^I^-  Craig's 

ing  morecLrlv  thin   he^  A  T  ?'^'"  t'  "'"  P"^P°^e  °f  ^hol- 

on'which'^Mr'tfa  n      s  ^  to°  o'm '  hi  ?e"r'°'  ''^  ''""^'P"^^ 
new  institution.'     She  then  adds  ^^'°"'  '°"'  °^  "'^ 

chlrlcfer.  ^It' was'S  d"o.'nH?  'i  r"'''Y  '^  '"'^  "^"  '^''gious 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


363 


'* '  His  young  friend,  whom  he  had  so  long  and  earnestly  im- 
portuned to  come  to  his  assistance,  was  to  him  the  type  of 
what  all  the  young  might  be ;  and  the  fruits  of  his  experiment 
during  the  last  few  years  had  satisfied  him  that  his  plans  were 
not  Utopian,  as  many  of  his  friends  wished  to  make  him 
believe. ' 

**I  do  not  know  about  *  the  plans 'of  Horace  Mann  ;  no 
doubt  they  were  wise,  and  if  wise,  possible;  but  that  Austin 
Craig  *  was  the  type  of  what  all  the  young  might  be '  by  intel- 
lectual development  and  spiritual  influence  was  certainly  a  de- 
fective conclusion.  Education  is  a  power,  but  that  even  with 
moral  training  cannot  make  all  men  ideal.  Even  in  the  firma- 
ment that  *  declares  the  glory  of  God  '  there  is  variety ;  shining 
points  of  the  first,  blending  their  light  with  those  of  lesser  mag- 
nitude. And  among  the  stars  of  God  here,  it  is  as  above,  '  one 
differeth  from  another  star  in  glory.'  And  it  is  the  type  of 
variety  that  prevails,  not  that  of  sameness. 

"The  fact  is,  Austin  Craig  was  a  genius,  an  exceptional 
mind  having  rare  gifts  and  unusual  powers.  Hence  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  classify  or  fix  his  place  among  men.  He  was  pre- 
eminently Biblical ;  his  studies,  thought  and  discipline  were 
directed  to  a  knowledge  of  the  one  Book. 

**  While  many  during  his  life  thought  of  him  as  a  teacher, 
specially  qualified  for  the  class-room,  or  as  a  college  president, 
it  seems  now  that  he  was  above  all  a  preacher,  expounding  for 
the  many  the  treasures  of  grace,  and  proclaiming  the  Gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God.  He  certainly  was  not  a  Boanerges,  '  tear- 
ing and  shattering  the  heart,'  nor  depending  on  any  'counter- 
feit presentiment '  of  feeling  ;  but  a  true  Barnabas,  the  *son  of 
consolation.'  And  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  home,  in 
country  or  city,  in  solemnizing  a  marriage  or  bowing  by  the 
bed  of  the  dying,  how  welcome  his  presence,  how  cheering  his 
manner,  how  inspiring— how  tender  and  hopeful  his  words  ! 

'*Mr.  Craig  had  the  gift  of  an  artist,  and  could  make  the 
pencil  speak  a  varied  language  of  beauty  or  caricature ;  and 
with  this,  a  most  keen,  incisive  wit.  Yet  he  bridled  these 
powers,  wisely  no  doubt,  fearing  their  use  might  harm  the  ten- 
der plants  in  the  Lord's  garden.  So  completely  were  these 
gifts  hidden,  that  often  among  even  intimate  friends  they  were 
not  suspected. 

**ln    one    point,    among   the    many   that   might   be   men- 
tioned, Dr.  Craig  revealed  his  obedience  to,  and  fellowship  in 


364    LIFE  AND  LEITERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

Christ— revealed  his  recognition  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth  as 
Leader,  Saviour  and  Master;  and  this  was  his  complete  Chris- 
tian Democracy.  Not  only  did  he  receive  the  words  of  Teffer- 
son  m  the  immortal  'Declaration/  but,  as  supreme,  the  words 
of  the  Saviour:  'Por  one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and 
all  ye  are  brethren.'  ' 

-  VVhile  Dr.  Craig  belonged  of  right  to  the  blue-blood  of 
New  Jersey,  yet  he  was  not  like  that  proud  Duke  of  Somerset, 
who  in  his  conceit  once  declared  that  he  '  sincerely  pitied 
Adam  because  he  had  no  ancestors.'  As  was  said  of  Governor 
John  Andrew,  so  it  may  be  said  of  Austin  Craig,  •  he  was  a 
^TT\  r""^^  and. through,  feeling  himself  on'an  equality 
wi  h  all,  but  never  putting  on  airs  of  condescension  to  any.' 

..re      Tk       '^'f  '^'^^  ''^'""^'^  ^^'^'■^^  «^  Christ  were  ever  in  the 
ZnT    ^f^'^^^^^'^^oih^r;   '  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it 

unto  Z'     F^u'^ff  '^'''^  ^^y  ^^^^^^^"'  y'  have  done  it 
unto  Me.      lor  he  did  not  seek  to  see  the  world  of  mankind 

through   the  purblind  eyes  of  a  greedy  politician,  nor  the  gim- 
blet  holes  ot  an  aspiring  dominie;  but  rather  with  the  clear 
vision  of  a  Paul  on  Mars  Hill,  he  saw  '  the  all  embracing  love 
of  God       who  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  ' 
fr, '/k       ^P'^^.^h^!■'  ^''  <-^raig  was  Biblical,  presenting  sublimest 
truths  in  the  simplest  words,  'so  that  the  common  people  heard 
him  gladly     winle  the  ablest  minds  were  edified  and  instructed 
His  method  was  extempore  and  conversational,  holding  the  at- 
tention by  direct  appeal;  but  always  obeying  the  comnTand  'to 
bring  the  pure,  beaten  oil  for  the  light  '  of  the  sanctuary      He 
was  studious,  not  depending  on  any  inspiration  without  labour 
reahzmg  that  the  harvest  depends  on  the  sowing,  and  that  in 
all  things,  we  '  are  to  work  with  God.' 

-  He  had  mastered  the  fine  art  of  standing  without  being 
tied  by  creed,  tradition  or  desk.     He  represented  by  his  atti- 
tude in   the  pulpit  the  words  of  the  lawgiver:      'Fear  not 
stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God  !  '     And  then  came  the 
nn?I  ."k^  command  which  he  also  religiously  obeyed  :      '  Speak 

enough  to  stand,  but  also  go  forward  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
Mr.  Cra.g  believed  the  time  had  fully  come  when  '  knowledge 
should  be  increased.'  What  a  model  he  was  !  Never  bofs- 
terous,  but  easy,  dignified  and  impressive 

T  rlT""  "^""^  ■!]'"  '■^^^•"^^'^'  his  trained  powers  through  study, 
I  relate  an  incident  in  which  he,  perhaps,  was  the  only  possible 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


365 


hero.  At  Marshall,  Michigan,  before  '  The  Quadrennial  Con- 
vention,' he  was  asked  to  give  a  five  minutes'  sermon,  as  it 
lacked  that  time  to  adjournment.  Some  one  in  the  audience 
said  as  he  stood  on  the  platform  :  '  Dr.  Craig,  give  us  some- 
thing good.'  He  replied  :  '  I  will  give  you  the  best  there  is.' 
And  opening  his  Greek  Testament,  he  read  Ephesians  3:17, 
18,  19  :  'That  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith  ;  that 
ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  com- 
prehend with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth,  and  length  and 
depth,  and  height;  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ,  which 
passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fullness 
of  God.' 

'*  Then  followed  a  sermon  so  complete,  so  full  of  Gospel, 
that  for  five  minutes  we  were  silent  as  a  mountain  top  envel- 
oped in  a  cloud  of  glory.  As  the  clock  pointed,  he  ceased 
speaking  and  we  could  breathe  again.  But  it  was  as  if  an  an- 
gel had  spoken  to  us. 

**  Perhaps  it  was  during  his  brief  pastorate  in  the  '  White 
Church,'  New  Bedford,  that  Dr.  Craig  reached  the  maximum 
of  his  powers  in  the  pulpit,  and  received  a  just  recognition. 
Here  was  a  field,  in  a  measure,  worthy  of  his  ability  and  schol- 
arship. As  a  religious  teacher,  he  attracted  at  once  the  atten- 
tion of  the  thoughtful  and  devout.  Here,  he  gave  the  course 
of  lectures,  some  twelve  in  number,  to  which  he  had  devoted 
years  of  study.  The  theme  was:  'The  morality,  the  re- 
ligious bearings  of  Physical  Geography.'  And  as  with  him, 
'AH  roads  lead  to  the  Bible,'  so  the  text  for  these  lectures 
was  Acts  17  :  26,  '  And  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of 
men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined 
the  times  before  appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation  ; 
that  they  should  seek  the  Lord.'— These  invaluable  discourses 
are  lost  to  the  world. 

"As  the  first  president  of  the  '  Biblical  School,'  his  cherished 
thought  was  carried  out— a  thought  and  hope  that  he  had 
dwelt  on  for  years.  It  was  not  his  desire  to  see  another  theo- 
logical seminary  established  for  teaching  any  form  of  dogma  or 
doctrine— there  were  plenty  of  these  institutions.  His  hope 
was  exclusively  Biblical— to  take  the  Bible  as  text-book,  as 
literature,  as  religious  authority— as  Revelation— the  paramount 
Idea  being  to  seek  to  understand  the  Scriptures.  '  So  that  if 
any  speak,  let  him  speak  as  the  oracles  of  God;  if  any  man 
minister,  let  him  do  it  as  of  the  ability  which  God  giveth;  that 


366    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CEAIG 

God  in  all  things  may  be  glorified  through  Jesus  Christ  •  to 
whom  be  praise  and  dominion  forever  and  ever.'  Tl  L  was 
h.s  Ideal  :  ;  A  School  of  the  Prophets.'  And  at  the  ime  k 
w^  an  ongmal  thought;  though  now  '  institutions 'and 
-hairs  •  are  established  and  endowed  for  this  purpose 

When  It  became  known  that  Austin  Craig  was  head  master 
of  a  school  for  simple  Biblical  study,  without  regard  to Ss 

'he  stiden'tr  T't'^vf '  ^^^^"^^'  '^^^"^  ^^^  enrolled  am^ 
enrich  their  minds  and  hearts.  Next  to  the  pulpit  Mr  Crai^ 
was  at  home  here,  and  indeed  the  stores  of  know  edge  thaUi ad 
cT's  room  Z7T'f'  'V^^''^^^'^^^  P^-cher,  now  made   he 

fofded  Uh^^  ''^''"'^'  ""^'  ""^^  ^^^^'  ^'  ^'  '^  -Nearly  un- 

olded    those  things  that  are  revealed  and  belong  unto  us  and 

^haTroi  -'  h^  'T^'u-    ^"^  "^^"^  ^^'^-  -"-'-^  '  Be- 
drlnJ    '        f  r^^  ""^  "'"'  'h^'  ^^^^^'^  ^"d  '^^'^'  nie,'  and  they 
drank  deep  of  that  water  that  never  faileth  ^ 

sucV'a  Thcin'^'p  T'^  ^^.^f^^J'fh  and  stand  at  the  head  of 
had  been    f^  '^^"'  ^"^^-  ^"^  ^^^^^'"  ^^  ^is  life  service 

hkher    hnl         .J''    '^'    ''^^'"'"^^    ^^^'^    «^  ^^^    -^^^--       ^Vhat 

&:ir  i^iin^^^  :;i  ;^^'  ^^^^^ "  -^^^^  ^--  ^^^^ '  ^--^ 

f.n'l!''/i!'*'  <;Jhristian  virtue  of  hospitality,   Dr.    Craig  never 
failed,     hough   h.s  generous  welcome  might  puzzle   his  com- 

the  almoner  of  the  meat  and  the  grace  of  God  who  feeds  the 

was  an  of?.T  '^T  ^''""^-  T''  ^'  '^'  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  home,  he 
father  D^inr  1  '  l^^"^;.^^^"-^^^.  husband,  and  a  most  tender 
father  Dunng  his  loneliness  it  was  touching  to  see  his  ;//«- 
/^r,;.^/  care  reading  to  his  children,  and  in  every  way  r  vTn. 
to  make  their  poverty  rich,  their  bereavenient^heerfu  and 
reXHi'/^^'lTin^^^""^^^^  ^^  ''^''^'^^^'y  ^'^  ^^^^^  ^-^-  tllS 

a  time  when'  h'T  '  ^f'^^'T  ^"^  '°  '^'"^  ^"^^  ^«  ^is  children- 
M    D    on.  "  ""'^  '"  1^'"  l^"^^^"  «f  ^^'^s  Sarah  McCarn, 

bm-M  *hi?K    r^  r'^  '"'"^^  '^  ^hare  his  burdens  and  help  re- 
and   nrtn    ?     "  home-with  her  motherly  heart,  clear  mind 

'o  an^  most  tr^fl"'''  r"r'  'l"^'"'^  ^  ^^"'^^^  ^"^  ^  blessing 
ing  and  the  darf  ness  cam^  ""''"^'  '''"''  ^'^  ^^^^"^■ 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


367 


**  When  the  end  came,  as  come  it  must,  it  seemed  at  the 
noontide  hour  !     Came  suddenly  while  the  'eye  was  not  dim 
nor  his  natural   force  abated.'     We  thought  he  stood  on  the 
foot-hills  of  Pisgah,  not  on  the  top. 

-  The  world  seemed  dark  and  lonely,  though  it  was  not,  for 
God  was  here.  His  grace  and  providence  the  same  as  ever- 
boundless  as  His  power— perfect  as  His  wisdom.  And  our 
brother  s  life,  his  mspired  words,  have  entered  into  hearts  and 
lives  and  like 'the  rain  from  heaven  give  seed  to  the  sower 
and  bread  to  the  eater.'  " 


Rev.  Isaac  C.  Goff :     -  Dr.  Craig  was  not  only  a  great  man. 
but  a  man   of  great   humility,  and  most  childlike  simplicity 
He  was  a  Christian  in  the  most  Catholic  sense,— not  merely  a 
member  of  ;yhat  is  called   the  Christian  Church.     Although 
scholarly  and  eminently  critical,  he  was  not  dogmatical  or  in 
any  sense  controversial.      He  was  a  man  and  a  minister  of 
eminent  spiritual  mindedness.      His  ministry  and  teaching  for 
more  than  a  score  and  a  half  of  years  have  been  a  large  and 
invaluable  contribution  to  that  type  of  Christian  faith.     Horace 
Mann   used   to  say  that  he  never  knew  any  other  man  who  so 
much,  in  his  character,  life  and  spirit,  resembled  Jesus  Christ 
I  knew  him  intimately  for  thirty-nine  years,  and   never  knew 
anything  of  him  that  gave  me  pain— not  an  act  or  word  that  I 
could  see  to  be  wrong." 


David  Clark,  m  Address  of  Commemoration  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  monument  to  Dr.  Craig  at  Stanfordville:  ''In 
some-yes,  in  most— respects  Dr.  Craig  differed  from  all  other 
men  I  ever  knew.  It  would  seem  that  both  nature  and  grace 
contributed  liberally  to  his  make-up.  His  tall,  angular  form 
seemed  designed  for  Western  frontier  life,  yet  the  spirit  in  the 
man  fitted  him  to  be  an  angel.  He  was  large-hearted  and 
generous,  even-tempered  and  kind,  tender  and  loving  as  a 
woman.  And  then  what  a  large  and  social  nature  he  possessed  ! 
U  hat  lengths,  breadths,  and  depths  of  humanity  I  His  beam- 
ing, sweet  face  was  the  'sign  manual  '  of  his  heart,  so  that  his 
presence  among  us  was  an  inspiration  and  a  kind  of  unspoken 
benediction.     Did  you  ever  think,  dear  friends,  when  he  was  in 


368    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

Craig,   D.D      for  litinLh,K'"^"'°.''y  °'^P^^='«'«"t  Austin 

selfish   life  which   marlp  l^v  r     ^™  '^°''  '"'  P"""^  ^"d  un- 

his  example  ••  '*""  '"""  "^""'^^^  ""^^er  and  better  by 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


369 


a  vast  ^^ss-  infi?Ltr:[^^  reS'tJih'^  "li"-^  .^1 

pour  out  a  fluent  stream  nffmh     '"  .h^"'^.  ^"d  without  notes, 

^  his  earn^tne  s  ca  S'ii  an  "ca,^v^  "'"''«'°" 

His  power  here  was  marked   .nH  ?    ^  ^  ^"^^  ^'^  audience. 

he  wL  effective  as^l  preSrTnli'l rchen"'^' ^'^^"-« '''- 
speak^an'fn  'hirSar  wo^r  H°"  '"  "'^  ''yP'^^'  ^  '" 

?  t  rCfF^- ^^^^^^^^^  Se'SbSo^rwit-h' 

numSr  ofTrSht  m^en^fcr"  'n""«  Z'"'"''  '  ''^^  ''"-"a 
of  wit  was  so  Vxub^ra;/  .nH  ?"  f'^'^'''  '"  ^^om  the  flow 
was  ever  caustic  it  was  a  ..  "?'"'"'l-  ^  ^°  "°'  ^'^""  '^at  he 
out  scorchinf  i  1^^1.0?^"  '""f'""^  ^^^ich  cheered  with- 
after  thirty  yfars  onVvfh!-  ?^^"  P«'"^"'ar  instances;  but 

thin  figur'e/s^moum  5  fv"  the  ""P''^'°"  ^emains-the  tall 
smilingLthe  rapTd  expti 'o'n  of  thTCdT  "™°''  ''"^^^ 
of  side-lights  to  make^ll  vivid-that^°  L  "'"^°",'''°''^ 
my  memory  as  he  stood  Mnl.  J  a  "'^  '"^"  *"'"'  '"^^  '" 
formal  occasions.  af^d-Wor  Z^'"T '  ""'^  *''^"  °"  '«^^ 
gown  and  slipper  •  caL  esTciaH  v  t^e?  ■  ^.'n''"'  ' '"  '^"^''"S' 
m  and  frienTy  cordial  t^ra  2  ts^^rSom:^"''^"^''- 


Rev.  J.  B.  Weston ;  **  The  memories  which  have  rushed 
upon  and  held  possession  of  my  mind  since  tlie  announcement 
of  the  sudden  death  of  my  Brother  Craig  are  loo  many  and  too 
sacred  for  expression.  How  vividly  1  recall  my  first  acquaint- 
ance with  him,  at  the  Marion  Convention,  in  1850,  wherein  our 
youth  we  were  drawn  together  by  our  interest  in  the  establish- 
ment of  Antioch.  How  pleasant  the  recollection  of  the  visit 
thence,  of  ten  of  us,  to  Niagara  Falls,  and  our  prayer- meeting 
in  our  room  at  the  hotel,  with  the  constant  roar  of  that  mighty 
cataract  to  us  a  new  anthem  of  praise  to  God.  How  sacred  the 
years  of  association  at  Antioch,  with  experiences  of  anxiety  and 
hope,  of  sadness  and  burden-bearing  and  work,  in  hope  of 
realizing  our  early  ideal. 

"  Especially  vivid,  now  that  he  has  passed  away,  is  the 
memory  of  the  strength  and  comfort  of  his  companionship  in 
the  hours  of  my  own  bereavement  and  loneliness.  There  were 
circumstances,  too,  in  college  and  church  which  demanded 
faith  and  wisdom  and  patience.  How  conspicuous  they  were 
in  him  !  I  have  seen  him  in  many  places  calculated  to  dis- 
turb equanimity  if  anything  could  ;  but  in  all  he  was  never  dis- 
concerted—never  put  off  his  guard.  From  years  of  personal 
companionship  I  can  join  the  general  testimony  :  He  was  one 
of  the  best  of  men,  if  not  M<r  best,  and  most  Christlike  man  I 
ever  knew.  Such  a  life  as  his  is  a  benediction,  even  when  it  is 
no  more  in  the  flesh." 


Rev.  O.  T.  Wyman:  "Rev.  Austin  Craig  and  wife  came 
to  the  Chautauqua  assembly  grounds  the  second  week  in 
August,  1881,  for  a  few  days'  rest  and  recreation.  I  was  spend- 
ing my  vacation  at  Chautauqua  and  Point  Chautauqua.  I 
found  them  at  Chautauqua  the  morning  after  their  arrival. 
Dr.  Craig  was  attending  a  lecture  in  the  Hall  of  Philosophy^ 
sittmg  by  the  side  of  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale,  D.  D.  Before  the  end 
of  the  week.  Dr.  Craig,  not  being  very  well,  wearied  of  the 
lectures  and  entertainments  and  gladly  accepted  an  invitation 
to  spend  Sunday  at  Point  Chautauqua  across  the  lake  and  also 
to  preach  in  the  Christian  Church  in  DeWittville  near  by  at  the 
request  of  the  pastor.  Rev.  S.  H.  Morse.  After  the  morning 
service  we  went  to  the  County  House,  half  a  mile  north  of  the 
village  where  Rev.  Morse  had  an  appointment  as  chaplain  of 
the  institution.     Dr.    Craig  preached,  what  proved  to  be,  his 


ill 


370     LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

last  sermon.      His   text  was   Matthew   17:  8,— '  Thev  saw  no 
man  save  Jesus  only.'     Seen.g  Jesus,  was  his  theme :Vnd  few 
men    ever    savv   Jesus    as    he    dul.       At    the    evening    servrj 
Dr     Cra,g    followed    the    ser,aon    with    appropriate   remarks 
Ih.s  was  his  last  church  attendance.     Afterwe  had  returned  10 
Point  Chautauqua   for   the  night,  he  asked   me  to  take  a  walk 
w.th   hnn  before   retiring   to  rest.     As   at  the  County  House 
Jesus  was   his   theme.      He  was   filled  with   the   S,.ir  t  of  X 
Master  and   it  seemed  a  pleasure  to  him  to  speak  of  Chr 
human  life,  and  Christian  hopes.     I  think  I  felt  somewhat     ke 
he  two  disciples  on  the  road  toEmmaus  when  Jesus  talked  with 
hem  and   unfolded   the  Scriptures.     The  following  no  nig 
aw  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Craig  on  board  the  steamer/i«„/ J"/on 
their  home  journey.      In   two  weeks  the  great   ^id  good  man 
passed  over  the  river."  ^  " 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHERS 


371 


tutJTrom  ill •  r^^""^'  ^  ""u""^  °'"  "^"^  *^''^'^"'^"  Biblical  Insti- 
tute from  ts  founding  to  the  present  time,  in  a  memorial  ser- 
moit  preache,!  at  Parma.  New  York.  September  4  'sSi- 
"Only  four   times  in  my  life  had  I  heard  news  so  uneipected' 

Dr.  Craig—when  Horace  Mann,  president  of  Amioch  died  in 
1859.  when  Abraham  Lincoln  was  assassinated  in  i86s    whe" 

rresiUent   Garfield  was  assassinated    in    1881.      Dr    Craiir  wis 

ch  rch":"  nTlr fn  ^'^  i's'i'  ^""  ''^^  ^'--  "--S  ou 

of  the  Drooh^r    f.^  'f  "f  ""n-eople;  he  was  the  teacher 

ot  the  prophets;  a  king  in  Israel.  And  now  that  he  has  cone 
from  us  and  from  the  school  he  loved  so  well,  he  hasbeque.fhed 
to   us  in  his  unblemished  life,  in  his  record'ed  words,1n  h     I 

from  he  mn  of  h  ,^^  '''^'V  "?«  "^"^^  °f  ^"ch  a  man  is  stricken 
=^r.l^  1  ""  '"''"S  '^  ■'  "«  '"««  that  his  honoured  dust 

should  be  put  away  out  of  sight  in  darkness  without  tribu.e^o 
hts  character,  his  life  and  his  fame.     U'e  all  have  one  feeling  ° 

see  the  fo;m  n"'?'  °'  T  '"'^  ^"''  "^«  "^  ^^all  never  mo  e 

sfrurinr  of  ^""u  ""^  ^°'"  "'"  ^'"^  '^^o  has  been  the  in- 

o  s  of  ,h°    °"'  P'^'-><=hers.     .     .     .     My  ,„,,  ,-,  ^         ,^^ 

chur.W     r'"^  T"  *"'""'S  "'^  """i^'^y-  'he  loss  of  al   our 

foZ     he  tilTU°,"''  '"T  °^  ^^"''  °"  ""h.     But  he  is  no 
gone ,  he  will  be  treasured  in  many  hearts  and  memories  ;  his 


words  of  wisdom  and  love  will  be  a  living  memory ; — the 
name,  the  character,  the  labours  of  this  eminent  scholar  and 
servant  of  God  will  long  be  held  in  precious  remembrance  by 
the  Christian  churches  of  America.     .     .     . 

"  Dr.  Craig  was  an  untiring  worker.  His  knowledge  of  the 
ancient  languages  was  most  remarkable  and  in  his  library  were 
many  of  the  most  rare  and  valuable  books  on  subjects  along 
this  line  of  study.  He  was  unassuming  to  a  fault ;  kind  and 
tender-hearted ;  always  a  peacemaker.  He  had  a  singular  ele- 
gance and  refinement  of  style ;  his  utterances  were  rich  and 
pleasing, — happy  in  illustration,  musical  with  the  notes  of  the 
Gospel,  and  sweetened  with  the  spirit  of  Christ.  I  think  I  may 
safely  say  that  in  his  peculiar  sphere  as  a  Bible  scholar  and  a 
Bible  lecturer,  Austin  Craig  stood  as  high  as  any  other  in  this 
country." 


Rev.  N.  Summerbell:  ♦*  Austin  Craig  appeared  to  all  as 
though  he  felt  as  Jesus  felt ;  he  spake  as  though  he  thought  as 
Jesus  thought.  His  spirit  seemed  to  be  one  with  Jesus.  Al- 
ways kind,  loving,  benevolent,  cheerful,  pleasant,  to  do  his 
duty  was  to  him  a  crown  of  pleasure,  not  a  cross.  He  loved 
the  loving  accent  of  the  Master  more  than  the  lofty  style,  the 
grace  of  charity  above  the  polish  of  learning ;  therefore,  though 
his  language  was  the  very  acme  of  purity  it  was  ever  gilded 
over  with  the  golden  lustre  of  heavenly  grace  and  divine  beauty. 
His  religion  seemed  homogeneous  and  unaffected,  his  grace 
hereditary,  his  goodness  natural,  his  kindness  rising  to  angelic 
loveliness  and  celestial  sweetness.  His  faith  was  divine.  The 
will  of  God  was  consulted,  and  was  the  arbiter  of  all  his  ways. 
Obedience  was  his  delight,  the  footmarks  of  Jesus,  the  path  he 
trod.  To  be  'like  the  Master'  was  his  constant  joy.  With 
John,  he  seemed  ever  to  lean  on  Jesus'  breast ;  with  Mary,  to 
sit  at  Jesus'  feet;  with  the  sainted  three,  to  ascend  to  the 
mount  of  transfiguration.  With  the  wise  men,  he  worshipped 
the  Lord  in  the  manger  ;  and,  with  John,  did  outrun  Peter  and 
come  first  to  the  sepulchre.  He  was  at  home  nowhere  without 
Jesus,  and  wherever  he  came  it  soon  appeared  that  Jesus  was 
there.  His  adoration  of  the  Saviour  was  of  the  most  exalted 
character,  and  his  devotion  to  His  service  a  corresponding  faith- 
fulness. Men  called  him  Christlike.  The  Hon.  Horace 
Mann  said  in  the  writer's  presence,  *  Austin  Craig  reminds  me 


.)! 


372    LIFE  AND  LETTEltS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

ir:e/h-!rto'irAZ.tr:hr-!;'^'^'='=^""--'  Others 

applied  to  hm,  even  by  tKl 'd  A  V '"  '  ?"^'"''^  '  ^^'^^ 
said  to  theuriier  '  No  man  H,!r\  ^ '^'"^«^  "^  iitanfordviUc 
munity  co.nnu,  ded  sud,Ta,e  a  '  f'  ?'"  *'!^  '"  "''^  '^°™- 
all    classes    and    denom  naiu  n  '*    '  "'  ''^'^  '^e  esteem  of 

thousands  bith  in  this  cofn,r„       ,  ^"^i^  "'^^    considered   by 
itX.  and  an  ^rr^.^.J^l^^^^y^C^Z:  f£t^^ 

blue  backgrottud  Willi  Ik  nf  '"""^'"'^  ""  "«  ^^P 

life  of  AtfstJu  CW  ,Jl'„\;":t  o'  ;•--  -"-'-  Of  the 
It  wu^  written  by  oue  of  nf  ?  l^'""  '™*'"""'  ''■^'^  ^t. 
eration,  of  any  i^^^r  ,tTo.  of  f.  T,"'^'''  "'  '''''  ^^- 

to  draw  Austin  Craig  o  il^id,  .^7'^?*'  wa«  seeking 
nf  }.Ju  ..«     •      .,         ^  ^^^**^»  "^*^  ^^^  to  avail  binmplf 

W  '  r*""  ^^'"'  '"^  «t'*"Jftheu  himsc-lf  by  the  stelSt 
love  and  sympathy  of  the  younger  man. 

withltrr'eh'l'fo'rThTCr'''  '""  ''""  ^^^^'  "b"'  brings 
1  go  by  your  ^oor  but  vour  Z  TT""'"^  ^^  ^^^^^  ^''«^"«- 
mere  personal  or  .h,  ic^aTabs^nce  I'hrh'n'  """^  ""^^  "^^^ 
not  the  ear  only    but  the  hp.w      t     ^''^  ^°"o»^  soun, Is  reach 

loss  of  your  influence  utLnh  """°'  "^"^  "'^  '^'^^  "^  'he 
you  can  do  good  here  vTJT  r'"%^°P^^-  Elsewhere 
therefore,  a  question  remov.Hr  °  ^^"nd.ng  good.  Is  it  not, 
sideratiot^s  into  hT  mX?  i"""  '^t  '^^''^  °^  P^^o^al  con^ 
merge  his  personal  c£iL7uZl  °^  ^."'^  \  ,"  "^"^  °"^  "'"^^ 
*orld  ?     And  now  I  Tm  ^„,n?V    k    J"   ■"'  ""^''g^'ions  to  the 

you  on  consideraLn.:  whic  "fo  :  sth  "7  '"°"^^'°  ^PP*^^'  '° 
mn,e,_on  considerations  that  ^'^  °^.^:°!"  Preferences  and 
moral  realrn._on  con^  eratioL^K  i'^  *  '^'S'^"  ^'^atum  in  the 
ings  and  the  demandH'ou  S  m^n^^K^  ^''"'^  "^^  ^""^  '^^^h- 
yourself.  If  you  and  I  alone  "^  ''"'  "°*  '"Pose  upon 
you  do  what  you  like  bes      forf  l'  ^''"^^^"^'1.  I  would  h^e 

oeM  ,  lor  I  love  you  most  among  living 


IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  OTHEES 


373 


men.  But  you  and  I  are  not  the  only  parties  to  this  question. 
Our  duty  subjectively,  the  welfare  of  thousands  objectively) 
God  in  and  through  all  and  over  all ; — these  are  the  umpires 
that  are  to  settle  this  great  question ;  so  that  even  if  it  were  a 
case  of  martyrdom  and  1  were  your  father  or  your  son  I  should 
say  the  same ; — I  should  be  bound  to  forget  myself  on  the 
point  of  duty." 


,l»l 


? 


HIS  SCHOLAKSHIP 


375 


XX 

HIS  SCHOLARSHIP 

PlnJof 'tT  T'^  adequately  to  .set  forth  the  stand- 
lug  ot  Austin  Cru.g  as  a  scholar,  one  of  eaual 
stand.nj,^  ninst  needs  be  drawn  for  the  service  bu 
je  may  here  in  «ome  slight  me.isnre  indicate  hi  St  bv 
a  general  review  of  this  feature  of  his  life-work  -tn  bv 
some  gei-mane  comment.  "^ 

From  th,.  earliest  period  in  his  life  when  his  (hon-rhlfnl 
futhe,-  started  him  along  the  student's  way    tu     ^CV    j 

lie  particularly  loved  fn  m..!-  ,    ^  inniib,  but 

1  aiij  luvtu  to  make  .scare  1  for  liiijiself      wau 

;;,r:T " .'-'""-»;>  rz';i';s;:™- 

rue  ordiuary  eonsfruefinn  nf  ^...i;  •         ^^'""'"^iis, 

J  ^^  "Miiuriou  ot  ordiiiarv  wr  ters  the  fr-nno 
work   so  fn  «T^o.ii'      *•       11  *    "*'^^*^j  i"t  ii.uiie- 

He  searched  on^..    "'   '  '"""'""-''  '^"^  ''«  -*^^"f  deeper. 

from  the  ordinarv  c,   I  I:'tr     ui;       r,  '•"'  """""■'^ 

the  customuiy  text-books    •    v       ^      'V"*  '"  ^  "^"'"S 

:>    itxt  oooks  chosen  for  their  illustrative 

374 


character,  sometimes  for  their  simplicity  and  ease  of  use, 
became  the  mere  commouplace  for  him  ;— it  was  the  deep 
study  of  the  abstruse  things  that  so  splendidly  fitted  him 
for  the  iuterpretatiou  of  those  less  diliicult. 

Aud  for  this  reason  it  was  that  he  devoted  so  many 
years  of  his  life  in  such  measure  as  was  possible  to  the 
study  of  the  texts  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  that 
he  might  obtain  complete  mastery  over  them  ;  such  a 
mastery  few  Americans  living  or  dead  have  acquired. 
Nor  was  it  that  he  might  shine  as  a  brilliant  light  among 
scholastics,  or  that  he  might  air  his  knowledge  in  new 
critiques  on  obscure  passages,  or  to  give  the  world  notice 
that  he  had  mastered  two  of  the  most  difficult  languages, 
ancient  or  modern  j  nor  did  he  study  for  the  mere  liter- 
ary pleasure  of  it :  his  sole  object  was  to  equip  himself 
for  largest  service.     Much  of  his  work  wa«  of  an  indi- 
vidual character,  on  lines  mapped  out  by  himself.     *^My 
Greek  studies,"  he  writes  in  the  year  1855,  when  but  at 
the  threshold  of  his  career,  "have  been  for  some  years 
quite  exclusively  within  the  limits  of  the  New  Testament 
aud  the  Septuagint,— a  very  little  in  the  Apostolic  Fath- 
ers and  in  Plato.     I  am  studying  Greek  on  my  own  plan 
and  with   reference  to  a  long-cherished  result.     Xeno- 
phon's  ^Memorabilia'  is  a  good  class  book  regardless  of 
its  Greek.     I  hope  teachers  will  aid   the  classes  which 
study  it  to  weigh  the  wisdom  and  appreciate  the  charac- 
ter of  the  noblest  man  in  Grecian  history  whose  life  it  too 
briefly  presents.     John's  Gospel  is  a  good  text-book,  too, 
—I  have  sometimes  imagined  that  if  I  were  allowed  only 
two  books  of  those  which  I  know,  I  would  probably  se- 
lect John's  Gospel  aud  Plato's  ^Phfedo.'  " 

JHustrative  of  the  depth  and  scope  of  his  study  is  this 
fragment  of  a  letter  written  in  1854,  when  in  his  quiet 
study  on  the  hilltop  at  Blooming  Grove  he  was  delving 
deeper  and  deeper  into  the  sacred  texts : 


i 


.1 


"I 


li 


If  f 


376    LIFE  AXD  LETTEKS  OF  AU6TIN  CEAIG 

*;  I  have  been  engaged  for  a  considerable  time  past  upon  a 
project  of  Greek  New  '1  estan.ent  study  which  I  cherish  the 
purpose  of  pursuing  for  years  to  come,  if  God  permit. 

*'  Myself  and  a  friend  have  for  several  years  entertained  the 
purpose  of  producuig  a  volume  in  illustration  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. I  will  not  here  particularize.  Sufficient  to  say  that 
It  seems  to   us  very  necessary  to   be   done;   and  that  we  have 

monthr  ^'    '^'  ^""^   "'  ''''''^   ""^  '^'   ^""^^  ""^  "''  '^^^'^^ 

'*  Since  last  November,  as  my  part  of  the  work,  I  have  col- 
lected, by  collating  Bruder's  'New  Testament  Greek  Concord- 
ance with  Scapula's  '  Lexicon,'  the  entire  list  of  all  Greek  words 
contained  in  all  hitherto  examined  manuscripts  of  the  Greek 
Nevv  1  cstament ;  and  have  disposed  them  in  classes  according 
to  their  etymological  affinities— derivative  and  compositive 
1  he  work  of  arrangement  is  completed  ;  the  copying-out  is 
about  one-third  done.  fj    6      ^  ^» 

-  In  connection  with  this  I  am  engaged  upon  a  classification 
ot  these  words  according  to  their  signification.  Much  the  same 
for  the  New  lestament  Greek  (though  upon  a  different  plan  of 
classification)  that  Roget  has  performed  for  the  English  lan- 
guage in  his  '  Thesaurus. '  These  works  completed,  prepare  the 
way  for  M^  w<?r^,  in  view  of  which,  these  have  been  under- 
taken. 


Two  letters  from  Mr.  Craig  to  Horace  Mann  written  re- 
spectively in  November  and  Dwember,  of  1854,  one  given 
in  part,  the  other  in  full,  illustrate  the  care  and  scholarly 
completeness  with  which  he  answered  knotty  questions 
presented  to  him  frequently  by  those  not  so  weU 
equipped: 

*'  As  to  the  subject  of  your  proposed  tract  on  the  Harmony  of 
true  Science  and  true  Religion,— instruction  on  this  point 
seems  particularly  needful.  Swedenborg  seems  to  have  de- 
veloped the  fundamental  law  of  the  thing  in  various  publica- 
tions of  his;  particularly  in  his  work  entitled  'Angelic  Wis- 
dom concerning  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  Divine  Love  '  Ac- 
cording to  him,  Wisdom  and  Love,  or  Good  and  Truth,  con- 
stitute  tht  esse  ^nd  existere,  or  Essence  and  Form  of  the 
Uivme.     There  is,  says  he,  in  the  Divine  an  eternal  marriage 


HIS  SCHOLARSHIP 


377 


of  Love  and  Wisdom  ;  neither  being  without  the  other  in  the 
least  respect :   but  both  in  perfect  conjunction  and  oneness,  as 
the  Light  and  Heat  of  tlie  natural  Sun.    Wisdom  is  from  Love, 
and  manifests  it ;  and  Love  is  through  Wisdom  in  its  prolifica- 
tions  and  efficiencies.     From  this  marriage  of  Love  and  Wis- 
dom in  the  Divine,  proceeds  the  Divine  Creative  Sphere,  pro- 
ducing all  things,  and  transcribing  an  image  of  itself  into  all 
things   of  nature,    according   to   their   reception.     In   every- 
thing of  nature,  says  Swedenborg,  there   is  this  Divine  Mar- 
riage of  Love  and   Wisdom.     In   the  Solar  Heat  and  Light : 
which  create,  mediately,  the  natural  world.     In  the  Heart  and 
Lungs  of  the  Body,  representatively :— The  Heart  representing 
Love,  and  the  Lungs,  Wisdom.     Heart-blood  being  unfit  for 
life,  until  vitalized,  or   purified  by  the  breath  in  the   Lungs  : 
like  as  the  Natural  affection  of  Man  becomes  true  Life  only 
when  purified  by  Wisdom, — changed  from  selfish  to  heavenly. 
A  curious  fact  it  is  that  in  the  Scriptures  (both  Hebrew  and 
Greek)   the   divine  purifying  Spirit  is  literally — Breath.     In 
Hebrew,    nri/  rUach,  (meaning  breath ;  air  in  motion — wind, 
nature's  great-breathing;  thence  the  breather — man;  and  the 
Breather — the  Vivifying  Spirit).     In  Greek  ;rvet»ytza,  {pneumd) 
from    TzAui   {pneo)     to    breathe,    spiroy     (whence,    the    Latin 
Spiritus).     The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Divine  Breathement  (?)  which 
decarbonizes  (?)  the  Natural,  earthly  affections   of  Man,  and 
infills  him  with  heavenly  Life  and  Vigour.     Jesus  said  to  Nico- 
demus:      *  Wonder-thou  not,  that  I-said  to-thee:     It-must-be 
(that)  ye  be-born  from-above.     The  breath  breatheth  where- 
ever  it  wisheth,  and  the  sound  of-it  thou-hearest,  but  thou- 
knowest  not  whence  it-cometh  and  where  it-goeth-up :  thus  is 
the   every-one   born   out-of   the  breath.'      (John    3:  7,8.)— 
Excuse  this  un-English  literality.     John's  Gospel,   20:  22,  is 
noticeable,  too  :      *  And  (Jesus)  saying  this,  blew-on  (the  dis- 
ciples) and    tells   them:     Receive-ye  breath  holy.'     Sweden- 
borg   often    utters    the   sentiment   that    Human    Marriage   is 
the    highest    symbol   of  the   Divine   Marriage  of  Love   and 
Wisdom.     This  is  the  subject,  indeed,  of  a  most  curious  (and 
wise  ?)  book  of  his  ;  an  octavo,  of  400  pages,  entitled,  *  De- 
lights   of   Wisdom    concerning   Conjug/Vz/  Love.' — The  Man 
representing  Intelligence,  and  the  Woman  the  Affection  of  that 
Intelligence. — I  have  not  space  to  tell  his  (were  it  even  need- 
ful) curious  metaphysical  theory  of  the  Spiritual  necessity  of 
disjoining  in  man  the  elements  conjoined  in  the  Divine-nature. 


378    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

But  to  divorce  the  Intellect  from  the  Affections  in  Worship 
when  they  are  intimately  conjoined  everywhere  in  the  universe 
IS  for  man  to  put-asunder  what  God  has  joined-togcther      Paul 
IS  very  explicit    on   this   point,     (i    Corinthians    14:  ;c_2o  ) 
I  will  pray  with  the  spirit  (///.vm^-here  designating,  the 
inmost  of  man,  spring  of  his   affections?)  but  also  I  will  pray 
w.Ui  i\.^nnnd  (v..,).     I.  will   psalm-sing  with  the  spirit,  but 
also    I-vviU-psalm-sing    with    the    /;//W.'-*Brethren,   do    not 
come-o-be  (not  be,  but  become,  is  the  meaning,)  children  in  the 
intellects  (or ,..././.).  (The  word  here  translated  undeMu!, 
IS  not  the  same  that   is  so  translated  in  verse  ic.      JVi^re  it  is 
Trn' 1  "^^"^V^'f  ^^''^^''')  -■  ^^^re  it  IS  ^,en.  {phresi plural)  with  the 
a  tide  prefixec  _/.  ..,  the  intellects.)     However-but  be-babes 
as    to    the    evil    but   as  to  the   intellects  becomeye  complete: 
{Complete  ^x  finished :  from  reAo,,  rekuo,,  constfmmate?)     It 
is   nothing  against  all   this  in  favour  of  conjoining  Knowledge 
anc    Fiety  or  Science  and  Devotion,  that  Paul  says  elsewhere 
(,1  L.or    I  :  19^)     .1  will  destroy  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,'  &c. 
—   Math  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  '  &c 
Paul  has  in  view,  evidently,  and  indeed  names  the  2o«or_the 
very   logic-chopping,   self-conceited  Greek   intelligizers  whom 
Plato   confutes   so   scathingly  in   many  of  his  Dialogues.     A 
Greek ^^//j^,  of  the  Pauline  age  is  not  identical  with  a  reverent- 
mincM,  Christian  Philosopher  or  Scientific,  in  these  days  » 
Pipfv  h'  ^""T      think  they  gain  a  higher  grade  of  Devotion  or 
Piety  by  casting  out  the  Intellect-action  for  the  time.      VVarm- 
W  s^dnr^n    '  r^  ^'-^^'--""^erstanding  go  together.     Love  and 
Wisdom-Devotion   and    Knowledge   one  foreverl     What   a 

n  nr."f.  "'  '\  "'  "^  ^""^''^  '''  eminently  the  Z^z^.-apostle  has 
more  to  say  about  knowledge,  proportionally,  than  even  Paul 
--the    'dialectic'/      Here    are    some    f^icts  :-The   verb   to 

fnT;^h  '^T^'^'n    ""'T  '"  J^^^"'^  ^'^^P^J  ^'^'y^^^  times: 
ohn^^r      ',      ''  ^^«^P^'«.  only  five   more  (/...;  61   times). 

an  ht  ;.?P  r^"'^'  l^'^"''''^  P'^P^'  ^^^^^'^  thirty-seven  times  : 
the   Rn^         ^yf  thirty-five   times.      In   Paul's  Epistles  to 

occuftH?';'"'^  '^''  T  ^^  the  Corinthians  the  W,  words 
occur  thirty  times:   in  the  much  smaller  compass  of  the  Love- 

'mes^  "l  do' I  '^"'r'  *\'  ''''"  "«^^^^  ^^-^  twenty-eight 
notion  tin  fh  -7  ^"^^  ^^ese  facts  are  reconcilable  with  The 
an        n     A'  ^'^':''^t.anity  IS  Feeling  and  not  Thinking-Z.z./,/^ 

to  savVir'"''^;:  ^T  '^''  Love-Disciple  who  has  mosf 
to  say  of  Loving,  has  also,  proportionally,  much  the  most  to 


HIS  SCHOLARSHIP 


379 


say  of  Kno7ving  at  least,  uses  the  word  most  frequently.  The 
conclusion  is  that  Love  and  Knowledge  should  be  in  one. 
•  He  that  loveth  not,  knoiveth  not  God.'  *  My  people  are 
destroyed  for  lack  of  Knowledge.' 

*•  Your  friend, 

**  Austin  Craig." 


'^ Blooming  Grove ,  N.  K,  December  21  st^  18^4. 
**  My  dear  Sir, — 

*'  Mr.  Mann  : — I  have  a  regretful  and  partly  surprised 
consciousness  that  your  letter — dated  the  13th  ultimo — is  yet 
unanswered.  1  owe  it  to  you,  and  to  that  kindly  regard  which 
I  wish  ever  to  deserve  from  you,  to  explain  particularly  the 
causes  of  this  long  silence. — I  have  been  for  some  weeks  past 
unusually  engrossed  with  unfinished  details  of  business ;  some 
of  which — one  especially — 1  much  wished  to  have  completed 
by  the  incoming  of  the  New  Year.  For  many  nights  recently 
I  have  seen  eleven,  twelve,  one  o'clock  (and  even  later)  before 
retiring. — My  old  habit  again:  which  1  /^//^<f^/ of  reforming  ! 
Withal,  1  have  been  from  home  more  than  usual  within  the  past 
month.  I  did  once  fully  purpose — some  three  weeks  ago — to 
answer  yours  immediately ;  and  took  the  letter  with  me  to 
New  Jersey,  designing  on  my  return  to  consult  some  Hebrew 
books  which  I  knew  to  be  in  Professor  Bush's  library  in  Brook- 
lyn, and  obtain  thence  fuller  materials  for  the  reply,  than  my 
own  library  affords.  But  on  my  return  I  lacked  the  requisite 
leisure. — To  shorten  my  story,  although  I  could  (if  something 
very  urgent  had  been  recognized  in  the  case)  have  furnished 
you  some  sort  of  answer  before  this,  yet  I  seem  to  myself  as 
having  lacked  hitherto  that  kind  of  leisure  which  the  prepar- 
ation of  a  careful  answer  demanded. — Do  you  kindly  excuse 
my  remissness;  and  accept  here,  in  advance,  to  yourself  and 
yours  *  Christmas  '  and  '  New  Years  '  greetings.  I  proceed  to 
answer  you,  with  the  help  of  very  limited  resources  of  neces- 
sary books,  the  two  questions  of  your  letter. 

"First:  As  to  the  issue  raised  by  your  reviewer  founded 
upon  the  real  or  supposed  etymological  import  of  the  names 
Adam  and  Enos  : — The  '  Hebrew  Bible  '  contains  all  that  now 
remains  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  language.  Of  consequence, 
the  materials  are  very  scanty  for  the  satisfactory  determination 
of  a  variety  of  questions,  relative  to  the  usage  and  general  or 


I 


380    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 

specific  meaning  of  many  wonis.     Tiie  derivation  or  etymoloe- 

cal  affinuy  of  Hebrew  words  is  in  very  many  cases  unc3 

Indeed  ,t  is  quite  conjectural,  oftentimes.     For  tlie  interpre  a- 

cTJt^"  ^'^''^  ^^^'  "^"  ''^^'f  '^■i*"'^'^  has  been  that  old 
G  eek  rranslatmn-the  Septuagint._In  very  recent  times  an 
other  source  of  knowledge  of  the  import  of  Hebrew  woTds  has 
been  opened  m  the  study  of  the  cognate  lunguages-^Syriac 
and  especially  the  Arabic. -Which'are  kindred  ^.h  the 
Hebrew   somewhat,  (I  sup{x>se)  as  French,  Spanish  and  Ital  an 

r^.s"f  :;   T'  °"/  "^'''X   \°r  P''""'°^^'^  affirm  tJ'at  re 
roots  of  all  the  words   in    the   Hebrew  Bible  may  be  traced  in 

the  Arabic  language  of  the  present  day.     Much  light  has  been 
hrown  upon  the  difficult  places  in  the  Hebrew  Bi We  byThe  re 
suits  of  inodern  studies  (German,  chiefly)  in  comparative  Phi- 
ology.     Many  doubtful  words,  occurrii/g'but  onc'e  o?  uU  in 
he  Hebrew  Bible,  and    being    therefore  often   uncertain  as  to 
heir  meaning  have  been  identified  in  origin  and  import  with 
some  roo    in  the  cognate  languages :    still  this  whole  ma^  er 
of  etymological    affinities    is  often   uncertain,   if  not   e^tfrdv 
ccMijectural.-Now,  in  the  case  of  these  words  Adam  and  Sefh 
the  results  as  given   by   Gesenius-one  of  Germany's  receiU 
greatest-if  not   M^  greatest   of  Hebraists,   are  as    follows  _ 
First    the    root   (verb)  CIN  (Adam)   signifies    'to    be    red, 
ruddy. '—From    which,   as   a   derivative,  Gesenius  gives  uy 
(adam)  'a  man,  a  human  being  male  or  female,  so  called  from 
his  ruddiness,  compare  DT  '  (dam)  (dgm  is  fiUo<f  in  Hebrew). 
Another   derivative  from  the  above  root  is  CHK  (gdom)  and 
Q*1X  (Sdiom— merely  a  variation  in  the  spelling)   an  adjec- 
tive, signifying  according  to  Gesenius— '  red,  ruddy,'  or  sub- 
stantively   'redness.'     Another    derivative    is  CHN   (xfidom) 
proper-name    or     appellative    of    Isaac's    '  sanguine-temper- 
amented    (?)  son  Esau.     Another  derivative  is  D-In'  (od6m)    '  a 

gem    of    red    colour,    perhaps,    ruty,   garnet.'     Also  Cip-IN 

(adamdam)  adj.  'reddish '-applied  to  spots  in  leprous' pe7 
sons-' white  and  somt^uhat  reddish'  (Lev.  13  :  ipj  &c  and 
14:17).  Also:  no-It*  (adamah)  'earth,  perhaps  so  called 
from  its  reddish  colour.'     Also  V.10"1N  (admone)  adj.,  'red, 


HIS  SCHOLARSHIP 


381 


/.  e,y  red-haired,  e.  g.  Esau,  Gen.  25  :  25.  David,  i  Sam. 
16  :  12;    17  :42.     Septuagint,  r.oppdxr^^,  Vulgate,  rufus.' 

"  You  see  therefore  the  probability  of  the  correctness  of  the 
conclusion  that  adam  refers  to  the  redness  of  the  colour  human 
— rather  than  as  your  reviewer  gives  it  from  the  verb  which 
signifies  to  be-likt.  (He  says — ♦  the  word  translated  ground 
comes  from  a  verb  which  signifies  to  be  like.')  Now  Gesenius 
gives  the  'word  translated  ground'  (viz.  noiX  adgm^h)  from 

the  root  D"1i<  (adam)  *  to  be  red.' 

'*  The  verb  which  signifies  to  be  like  is  npi  (dgmah)  which 

primarily  signifies  to  be  like,  to  resemble;  but  has  also  another 
signification  'to  be  dumb,  silent,  still:  to  rest,  to  cease.' — 
Gesenius  does  not  recognize  any  relation  oi  adam  to  damah. 

*'  *  Enos— a  name  derived  from  a  verb  which  signifies  to  be 
infirm,  ill  or  bad  with  disease — weak,  frail,  miserable.'  (The 
Reviewer.) 

"  Gesenius  gives  in  his  lexicon  the  following  articles  which  I 
here  transcribe  for  you  : 

'*'  U^JN  (anash)same  as  ^tij  (noosh)  (compare  Greek  voffo^') 

to  be  sick,  ill  at  ease, — sick,  desperate,  incurable,  &c. 

*'  *  U^iX  (andsh)  a  primitive  word,  not  used  in  the  singular ; 

properly,  a  man,  vir,  and  then  man  in  general,  homo.  Instead 
of  it  the  Hebrews  used  the  contracted  and  softened  form  U^''X 

(ish)  a  man  :  compare  Greek  el?  for  iv^,  genitive,  ivdg ;  and 
also   the    prolonged    form    ir'':N    (dnosh)  /lofno.     From   this 

primary  form  comes  feminine  nwtji  (isshah)  for  niTJK  (inshah) 

^7mman,  and  plur.  n^lV^ijt  (enashim)  men.— The  signification 

of  sickness  and  disease,  ivhich  lies  in  the  root  tl^JX  (anash),  is 

derived  from  another  source,  the  primary  syllable  ^j  (nash) ; 
and  has  ?io  connexion  luith  this  substantive  root.^ 

**  *  II^'lJX    (enosh)    m.     i.    a   man.     (See   below   in     tt^';t< 

(andsh),  [that  is  in  the  preceding  article,  as  I  have  copied 
it.  C]  same  as  cntj  (adam),  but  only  in  poetic  style.     Rarely 

in  the  sense  of  the  singular,  Ps.  55  :  14,  Job  5  :  17;  more 
usually  collect,  for  the  whole  human  race,  man.  Job  7:17, 


If    "< 


1^1 


If 


M 


382     LIFE  AND  LETTEI^vS  OF  AT^'^TIX  CRATG 


V 


15  :  14,  I's.  8  :  5.     The   same    is    tL'':x-]2  (bOn-O  nosh—/,  e., 

son  of  Enosh)  Ps.  144  :  3.— Specially  a)  a  multitiulc,  the 
common     people^     vuli^ns ;     lieiice     Isa.      8  :  i     U'jX   u^irZ 

(b'hhOrt^t  cMiosli)  pp.  laifh  a  man's  stylus,  i.  e.,  vviih  coniinon 
letters,  not  artificial,  so  tliat  the  common  i>eo{)le  may  read  with- 
out difficulty:   compare,   Comment,   on   Is.  1.  c.   Rev.  13:  18, 

21  :  17,  also  A'fiTa  ayUfHOTzov.     (kd.  3  :  15 7)  wickeii  7nen. 

Ps.  9  :  20,  56  :  2,  66  :  12.      Cotn[).ire  Clis*  No.  i  (adrim). 

*'  •  2.  Pr.  n.  (i>ro})er  name;  Enos,  son  of  Scth  and  grand- 
son of  Adam  (Gen.  4  :  26,  5  :  6,  9).' 

"Thus  fiir  Gesenius;  whom  I  pieler  to  co[)y  that  you  may 
form  your  own  conrlusion  from  the  date  here  given  by  him. — 
You  will  observe,  doubtless,  that  your  reviewer  is  not  sustained 
by  the  authority  of  (iesenius. — I  use  tlie  translation  of  Oese- 
nius'  Lalm,  made  by  Edward  Robinson,  I).  I).,  and  i.ssued  at 
Boston  in  1836.  1  suggest  that  it  would  l)e  well,  if  you  wish 
a  larger  array  of  authorities,  to  apply  to  Dr.  Stebbins,  who  has 
access  to  the  necessary  books  (which  here  I  have  not,)  and 
who  rather  relishes  sucli  investigations,  I  judge. — If  any  points 
are  not  sutVu  iently  clear  to  you  in  my  statements,  please  give 
me  an  opportunity  to  clarify  them. 

•*  As  to  the  90th  Psalm  :  it  has  generally  been  attributed  to 
Moses.  Though  the  Hebrew  particle  ^  (letter /.7//W)  trans- 
lated ''of  Moses" — may  signif) — ivilh  rejercnce  to  Moses: 
but  this  is  no  more  natural  than  the  signification  "</." 
Here  is  a  note  from  Adam  C'larke. 

"*The  title  of  this  Psalm   is,  A  prayer  of  Moses,  the  Man 
of  God.     The    Chahlee  (rargum)  has,  A  prayer  whi(  h   Moses 
the  proi)het  of  the  Lord  prayed  when  the  pecJjjle  of  Israel  had 
sinned     in    the    wilderness.      All    the    Versions   ascribe    it    to 
Moses ;   but  that  it  could  not  be  of  Moses  the  laicgiver  is  evi- 
dent from  this  consideration,  that  the  age  of  Man  was  not  then 
seventy  or  eighty  years,  which   is  here  stated  to  be  its  almost 
universal  limits,  for  Josliua  lived    no  years,  and  Moses  him- 
self   120,    Miriam     his    sister    130,    Adam    his    brother    123, 
Caleb  85,  and   their  cotemporaries   lived   in  the  same  propor- 
tion.    Therefore  the  Psalm  cannot  at  all  refer  to  such  ancient 
times.     If  the  title  be  at  all  authentic,  it   must  refer  to  some 
other  person  of  that  name ;  and  indeed  ish  Elohim,  a  man  of 
God,  a  divinely-inspired  man,  agrees  to  the  times  of  the  proph- 


HIS  SCHOLARSHIP 


383 


ets,  who  were  thus  denominated. — The  Psalm  was  doubtless 
composed  during  or  after  the  Captivity ;  and  most  probably  on 
their  return,  when  they  were  engaged  in  rebuilding  the 
Temple;  and  this  as  Dr.  Kennicott  conjectures,  maybe  *Hhe 
work  of  their  hands,"  which  they  pray  God  to  bless  and 
prosper. ' 

**  Drs.  Kennicott  and  Geddes  (both  eminent  Hebraists)  in- 
cline to  the  later  date  of  this  Psalm. 

**  I  have  written  at  the  top  of  my  speed ;  in  order  to  hasten 
to  the  Post  Office ;  excuse  this  special-train  writing,  and  accept 
for  yourself  and  family  assurances  of  the  continued  esteem  and 

affection  of 

"  Austin  Craig." 


It  is  a  matter  of  keen  regret  that  the  twelve  lectures 
Dr.  Craig  gave  at  the  Hyaunis  Camp  Ground  on  Cape 
Cod,  the  summer  assembly  grounds  of  the  Christian  de- 
nomination, were  not  preserved.  They  were  given  in 
the  summer  of  1881— the  year  he  died— and  they  at- 
tracted wide-spread  interest.  Plans  were  under  way  to 
have  the  twelve  lectures  given  before  the  Lowell  Society 
in  Boston,  but  these  plans  were  interrupted  by  Dr.  Craig's 
death.  The  central  thought  in  these  lectures  was  the 
influence  of  geographical  location  upon  race  character- 
istics, the  inter-relation  of  all  that  is  implied  in  geography 
and  ethnology.  Dr.  Craig's  idea  being  that  the  varied 
distributions  and  scatterings  of  the  races  of  the  world 
were  a  part  of  the  great  plan  of  God,  the  result  of  divine 
forethought.  A  suggestion  of  the  scope  of  the  lectures 
is  seen  in  his  ''  The  Story  of  the  World." 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  the  name  of  the  Cape  Cod 
assembly  grounds  was  later  changed  to  Craigville,  in 
honour  of  Dr.  Craig. 

As  the  years  passed  and  Dr.  Craig's  fame  as  a  scholar 
spread  still  more  widely,  many  calls  were  made  upon  him 
for  interpretation  of  difficult  passages  in  the  Bible,— 
how  potent  and  forceful  a  factor  he  would  have  been  had 


384    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


I 


he  been  given  time  and  strength  to  accept  the  invitation 
to  become  one  of  the  translators  of  the  Eevised  Edition 
of  the  Bible  !  Here  is  an  example  of  the  calls  made  upon 
him.  A  man  whom  he  had  never  met  but  with  whom  he 
had  had  some  correspondence  had  written  for  light. 
Dr.  Craig  replies : 

**  You  ask  mc  hard  questions.  I  fear  my  hurried  answers 
will  be  only  *  dark  sayings.' 

"  Japheth's  manner  of  thinking  is  the  logical  (or  illogical). 
He  can  do  almost  nothing  in  the  ana-logical.  That  eminent 
son  of  Japheth,  John  Stuart  Mill,  in  his  'System  of  Logic' 
divides  all  knowables  into  these  five  classes:  Existence,  Co- 
existence, Sequence,  Causation  and  Resemblance:  coming 
out  like  a  prince  in  *  Causation '  ;  but  like  a  pauper  in  *  Re- 
semblance.' It  takes  Semitic  intellect  (or  intelligence)  to 
think  analogically,  and  to  wield  the  parable.  Did  not  God 
teach  man  at  first  in  object-lessons  ?  parables  in  things,  coming 
first;  in  His  anointed  men,  next;  in  words,  last?  After- 
wards when  Japheth  was  enlarged  and  made  to  dwell  in  the 
tents  of  Shem,  Logic  was  annexed. 

*'  But  with  us,  Logic  is  almost  everything.  But  the  Japhetic 
hemisphere  is  not  the  full  orb.  Japheth  is  hardly  Semetized 
enough  yet,  to  read  the  first  part  of  Genesis  or  the  closing 
book  of  the  New  Testament.  Calvin  lets  the  Apocalypse 
alone.  And  to  many  a  Christian  dialectician  the  Tabernacle 
of  Israel  is  as  difficult  as  Egypt's  hieroglyphics.  Yet,  the 
Melchisadecian  Epistle,  with  its  *  many  things  to  say,  and 
hard  to  be  uttered,'  does  say  expressly,  that,  *the  first  taber- 
nacle '—with  '  the  cherubims  of  glory  shadowing  the  mercy- 
seat,'— was  a  parable  for  that  season  of  the  church. 

'*  The  core  of  this  parable  is  found  in  the  Holy  of  Holies 
as  seen  by  the  High  Priest  on  the  great  day  of  Atonement. 
But  all  this  is  within  a  veil,  and  needs  the  unveiling— the 
a7:o~!xaX'.4n<i.  But,  in  the  Divine  Light  gleaming  from  between 
the  cherubim  (in  the  Most  Holy  Place), -^o  we  not  see  the 
Postern  Gate  of  Eden  ?  When  Adam  looked  upon  the  cheru 
>mi,  and  the  self-poised  sword  of  light  turning  every  way  to 
keep  the  Way  of  the  Tree  of  Life ;  did  he  not  understand  the 
heavenly  Parable  ?  And  there  Man  found  his  first  sanctuary, 
and  built  his  first  altar ;  and  there  the  Prophet  Abel,  offering 


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HIS  SCHOLARSHIP 


385 


the  inner  life  of  the  choice  lamb — (a  parabolic  act)  was  slain 
between  the  temple  (/.  e.,  vao^)  and  the  altar,— as,  similarly, 
Zacharias  was  afterwards  slain, 

*'  Can  we  doubt  that  righteous  Abel  had  Adam's  spiritual 
intelligence  ?  And  Adam  was  taught  of  God  by  those  trees 
in  Eden.  Was  not  the  Paradise  of  Adam  the  first  parable 
of  God  to  our  race?  What  if  such  parabolic  language  be 
dark  to  us  ?  I  suppose  some  of  Japheth's  sons  surpass  our 
first  Father  Adam  in  Syllogisms  (in  logical  inventions  for 
detecting  fallacies),  but  1  have  no  doubt  that  men  who  lived 
in  Seih's  line  near  the  Eden  age,  far  surpassed  us  in  power  of 
spiritual  discernment,  and  in  the  power  of  vivid  expression 
of  spiritual  things  in  a  sign-language  whose  most  valuable  re- 
mains are  now  to  be  found  in  the  non-logical  (say  non-Japhetic) 
portions  of  Holy  Scripture.  The  Ark  of  Noah  contained  and 
bore  over  to  the  post-diluvial  world  the  spiritual  treasures  of 
Adam  and  Abel  and  Seth  and  Enoch  ;— their  sacred  truth, 
and  the  sacred  language  and  forms  in  which  they  transmitted 
it.  When  Noah's  sons  multiplied  into  incipient  and  settled 
nations,  Ham  and  his  race  found — (by  the  providential  allot- 
ment of  God)  the  rich  south  lands— the  garden  places  and 
natural  highways  of  the  ancient  world  ;  favoured  by  geograph- 
ical position  and  stmiulated  by  a  quickening  climate,  the 
nations  of  Ham  were  first  to  attain,  and  preeminent  in  re- 
cording, what  we  call  civilization.     It  was  theocratic.      It  had 

Altar  and  sacrifice  and   Priest  and   sacred  signs  of  things 

which  were  transmissions  of  Noah  and  reminiscences  of 
Eden." 


As  illustrative  of  the  clarity  of  Dr.  Craig's  scholarship 
and  the  purity  of  his  Greek  it  will  be  of  interest  here  to 
include  an  example  of  his  own  writing  in  Greek  to  one 
of  his  students,  the  Rev.  Zenas  Post,  reproduced  in/ac- 
mmle. 

Keenly  appreciative  of  the  scholarly  attainments  of 
Dr.  Craig  were  many  men  of  large  prominence.  William 
Cullen  Bryant,  who  gave  to  Dr.  Craig  an  autographed 
copy  of  his  translation  of  the  ^^liad''  was  among  these 
friends.     Prof.  E.  L.  Youmans,  the  first  editor  of  the 


3S6    LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


Popular  Science  Monthlij  who  had  been  a  professor  at 
Aiitioch  with  Dr.  Craig,  was  another.  The  following 
characteristic  lett43r  from  Dr.  Voumaus,  written  as  he  was 
approaching  blindness  and  scarcely  transcribable,  is  of 
interest : 


''  Ng7v  York,  April  g,  1872, 
**  My  dear  Mr,  Craig  : 

**I  received  your  kind  letter  some  days  ago  and  had  a 
renewal  of  life  at  again  hearing  from  you.  But  I  have  allowed 
my  letters  to  pile  up  unregarded  for  the  past  fortnight  because 
I  have  been  busy  day  and  night  and  could  not  attend  to  them. 
For  be  it  known  that  I  am  officially  established  as  chief  bellows 
blower  to  the  •  New  Popular  Double-action  Wind  Mill  and 
Universal  Rag  Bag  of  Science  Monthly— Limited  '  this  day 
established  by  D.  A.  c^'  Co.— which  the  same  I  will  send  to 
you. 

♦*  Of  course  Galton*s  *  Hereditary  Genius'  is  the  book  for  the 
niental  side  of  heredity.  Spencer's  'Biology,'  though,  is  the 
indispensable  first  book  of  the  subject.  When  you  get  the 
*  Rag  Bag  '  you  will  see  on  the  last  page  of  cover  a  list  of 
names  and  subjects  to  be  dealt  with.  Professor  Rihat  of 
France  will  probably  contribute  to  this  series— at  all  events  he 
will  soon  publish  *  Heredity  in  Mind,— Its  Facts;  its  Laws ; 
its  Causes;  its  Consecpiences.'  1  will  have  them  send  you 
Galton's  '  Biology  '  which  is  in  two  volumes,  is  more  expensive 
and  you  can  return  it  if  you  like.  We  mean  to  stuff  the  sub- 
ject into  the  •  Rag  Bag  '  if  the  texture  of  said  pouch  does  not 
prove  to  be  too  rotten  to  hold. 

*'  Do  you  never  come  to  this  wicked  city  ?  If  so  do  stop  and 
S^e  tis.  My  time  is  spent  chiefly  at  319  East  Fourteenth 
Street,  and  1  would  be  happy  indeed  to  have  you  come  in  upon 
me  for  close  communion. 

"  I  fear  me  I  may  not  get  to  your  place.  My  legs  are  worn 
away  by  two  feet  in  travelling,  travelling,  travelling,  like  the 
\Vandering  few.  Lecturing  is  played  out  with  me  and  so  I 
must  take  to  the  press  the  rest  of  the  time. 

*'  With  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Craig. 

"  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"E.  L.  YOUMANS." 


PROFESSOR  EDWARD  L.  YOUMANS 

First  editor  of  the  Popular   Science    Monthly  and  a 
warm  friend  of  Dr.  Craig. 


HIS  SCHOLARSHIP 


387 


But  one  may  only  here  liiiit  at  the  breadth  and  the 
depth  of  this  man's  scholarship.     It  was  in  the  class- 
room, in  personal  discussions  with  other  scholars  over 
mooted  points,   in  his  immediate  interpretation  of  the 
Bible  from  the  original  texts— in  such  ways  his  scholar- 
ship shone  even  brighter  than  in  the  many,  very  many, 
letters  he  wrote  in  elucidation  of   obscure  points  and 
l)assages.     Often  these  letters  were  comi)osed  in  the  dead 
of  the  night  when  his  never  strong  body  needed  rest. 
Often  they  were  the  indirect  cause,  through  overwork 
of  hours  of  pain  and  restless  nervousness  ;  but  ever  they 
were  given  out  as  was  all  the  service  of  his  great  heart, 
unstintedly,    ungrudgingly,   with  no  regret  but  that  he 
had  not  time  and  strength  to  answer  them  in  a  way  that 
juight  better  suit  his  critical  mind. 

Day  by  day  and  year  by  year  as  Austin  Craig  advanced, 
one  all  but  overmastering  passion  was  in  his  heart— to 
write,  as  well  as  speak,  for  the  good  of  the  race.  One 
may  fancy  easily  that  through  all  this  noble  life  ran  the 
regret  that  he  was  not  able  to  give  himself  wholly  to  the 
pen  ;  and  if  this  be  so,  what  daily  sac.ifices  must  have 
been  his  when  instead  of  giving  his  undivided  time  and 
his  unquestioned  talents  to  liteiature  he  held  himself 
sternly  to  the  task  set  before  him,  doing  that  which  to 
him  seemed  his  highest  measure  of  good. 

As  we  follow  him  through  his  writings,  we  see  not  only 
how  rare  was  his  gift  of  words  and  his  fertility,  see 
signs  unmistakable  at  many  a  turn  of  the  successes  that 
would  have  awaited  him  as  a  writer  of  superb  English 
prose,  but  we  see  through  it  all  the  golden  threads  of  his 
own  uns(^lfishness,  binding  him  to  the  people  he  loved 
less  only  than  the  Master  he  served. 


Writings  of  Austin  Craig 

The  Study  of  a  Language. 

Conversational  Style. 

The  Jerusalem  Idea— Fourth  of  July  Meditations. 

The  Press  and  the  Church. 

**Give  Attendance  to  Reading." 

The  Heart  and  the  Lungs  of  the  Bible. 

A  Minister's  Pocketbook. 

A  Christian  by  Nature. 

Seven  Wishes. 

What  is  Truth  ? 

Courage. 

A  Statement  of  My  Belief  Concerning  the  Lord. 

Opinion  and  Faith. 

We  Walk  by  Faith  and  not  by  Sight. 

Hand-works  and  Heart-work. 

Denominationalism. 

The  Christian  Church. 

A  Milk  Diet. 

Denominational  Freedom. 

Theological  Reaction. 

Sheep  Fodder. 

The  Sphere  of  Mary. 

Biblical  Schooling. 

Dedication  of  a  Carpenter's  Shop. 

The  True  American  Citizen. 

The  Union  of  Weak  Churches. 

An  Interpretation. 

Please  Pass  the  Salt. 

A  Blessed  Bell. 

Smaller  Cans. 

A  Word  on  Heralds. 

Remedy  for  Skepticism. 

Enoch — In  Meraoriam. 

The  Philosophy  of  Prayer. 

Conversion. 

389 


390 


WRITINGS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG 


Duty  of  Consecrated  Effort. 

Search  the  Scriptures. 

The  Abolition  of  Slavery. 

Bible  Translations  Common  and  Uncommon. 

How  to  Prepare  a  Sermon. 

All  Inspired  Scripture. 

Too  Much  Preaching. 

Look  Ye  Out  Among  You. 

The  Church  the  Medium. 

Interpretation  of  Baptism. 

Faith  and  Baptism. 

Sound  Doctrine. 

Gog  and  Magog. 

A  Model  Visit. 

God  Our  Owner. 

Which,  Law  or  Grace  ? 

"Sir,  We  Would  See  Jesus." 

Paul's  View  of  Women's  Preaching. 

Beginnings. 

Shem's  Debt  to  Ham. 

The  Story  of  the  World. 

Science  and  Philosophy. 

Christian  Conciliation. 

Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs. 

**  Opposition  to  Romanism  " — Its  Character. 

Cain  and  Abel,  or  The  Duty  of  Brotherly  Care. 

**  Mother,  I  Want  Something  to  Do." 

Geometry  of  the  Holy  City. 

Episcopacy. 

Attitude  in  Prayer. 

Inspiration. 

The  Blood  of  Christ. 

Preludes  to  Our  Sonship  in  Christ. 

A  Meditation  on  Faith  in  the  Lord. 

To  Grandmothers  and  Aunts. 

Keeping  Children  from  Christ. 

What  Do  Ye  More  than  Others  ? 

An  Independence  Day  Address. 

Concordances  and  Their  Uses. 

The  Saving  Power  of  God  Resident  in  the  Gospel, 

Is  the  Gospel  of  Luke  the  Apostles'  Creed  ? 

Conversations  on  Christian  Union. 


WRITINGS  OF  AUSTIN  CRAIG  391 

Unity  and  Faith  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Getting  Religion  :      A  Popular  Error  Exposed. 

Right  Use  of  Divine  Revelation. 

A  Literal  Translation  of  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

Probably  Spurious  (Mistakes  in  the  Bible). 

Building  Doctrine  on  a  Greek  Preposition. 

The  Great  Enemy. 

The  Evangelical  Alliance. 

Marks  of  the  True  Church. 

Eating  Christ's  Flesh  and  Drinking  His  Blood. 

A  Christmas  Visit  to  Bethlehem. 

Bearing  the  Yoke  in  Youth. 

Love  to  Christ. 

Preaching  Politics. 

The  Successful  Ministry. 

Christ  and  the  Atonement. 

Can  the  Holiness  of  Christ's  New  Heavens  and  New  Earth 

Ever  Fail  ? 

Speak  Also  to  that  Boy. 

Abolitionism  in  1787. 

Also  Lecture  Notes  and  Various  Short  Articles. 


INDEX 


ANCESTRY,  15-19 

Andrew,  Governor  John  A.,  248, 

250 

Antioch,  153 

Antioch  College,  137,  138-169, 
214-271 ;  co-education  in,  216, 
253,  267  ;  president  of,  226,  251, 
283-285  ;  professor  in,  252 ;  cat- 
alogue of,  252;  moral  influence, 
252;  admission  of  negroes  to, 
253;  and  Horace  Mann,  153, 
168 

Arbuckle,  Rev.  James,  113 

Beecher,    Henry    Ward,    120, 

323 
Bellows,  Rev.   H.   W.,  letters   to, 

74,   148,  229;  letters  from,  121, 

226,  228 

Biblical  School,  273 

Birthplace  of  Austin  Craig,  17 

Blooming  Grove,  112,  149,  276, 
277;  church  of,  112;  installa- 
tion of  Austin  Craig  as  pastor, 
116 

Boyhood  of  Austin  Craig,  19 

Christian    Biblical   Institute, 

299.  302,  304-320,  356;  ac- 
ceptance of  presidency,  317 ; 
dedication  of,  321 

Christian     Connexion,     221,    259, 

300,  306,  307,  310 

Clark,  Hon.  David,  321,  353,  367 
Coleman,  Norman  J.,  143  ;  letters 

from,  144 
College  life,  21 
Conference  address,  88,  1 1 1  ;  letter 

about,  126 
Craig,   Moses,    15,    16,   18;   letter 

from,   27 ;    Rachel   Carhart,    16, 

17;   Adelaide    Churchill,    140- 


146,  325,  326;   letter  from  to 
Horace   Mann,   145;  Dr.  Sarah 
McCarn,  356 
Craigville,  383 

Death  of  Dr.  Craig,  357 
Diaries  of  Dr.  Craig,  348 

Early  life,  13-20 

Early  preaching,  54,  67,  373,  275 

Felt,  David,  68 ;  letter  to,  1 14 
FeltviUe,  68,  71,  73,  84,  112 
First  sermon,  57 
First  charge,  68-85 

Garfield,  General,  248,  331 

Goff,  Rev.  I.  C,  22,  43,  323,  367  ; 
letter  to,  231 

Goodwin,    \Ir.    Edwin    L.,  345> 
reminiscences  "by,  345 

Greeley,  Horace,  88,  120;  auto- 
graph letter  of,  120 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  237, 
249  ;  introduction  by,  1 1  ;  and 
Antioch  College,  267,  271  ;  let- 
ters to,  255,  258 

Hathaway,  Dr.  Warren,  311,  324, 

358-367 
Hathaway,  Mrs.  Warren,  334 

Hill,  Rev.  Thomas,  224,  229 ;  let- 
ter from,  225  ;  letter  to,  231-239 
Hosmer,    Dr.    G.   W.,    263 ;  letter 

from,  265 
Hosmer,  Dr.  J.  K.,  263,  368 
Howell,  Professor  Selah,  354 
Humour  of  Dr.  Craig,  221 


Installation  as  pastor  of  Bloom- 
ing Grove  Church,  116 


393 


394 


INDEX 


Installation  as   pastor  of  Feltville 

Church,  74 
Introduction,  li 
Irvine,  Mrs.  Julia  J.,  354 

Lafayette  College,  20,  21,  28- 
30,  66 

Lawshe,  Rev.  J.  G.,  132 

Lecture  before  New  Jersey  Legis- 
lature, 132,  133 

Livermore,  A.  A.,  letter  from,  293 

Mann,  Horace,  117,  154,  189, 
372;  address  of,  118-120;  cor- 
respondence of,  134-212,  376 

Mann,  Mary,  223,  334 

Marsliall  Convention,  312 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.,  230 

McQuaid,  Bishop  Bernard  John,  75 

Meadville,  278,  285-286,  288,  293- 
299 

Millerism,  15,  33-53 

Miller,  William,  ^^,  52;  beliefs  of, 

35-37 
Moore,  Rev.  D,  W.,  370 

Newhouse,  Rev.  S.  S.,  297-299 
New    Bedford,     North     Christian 
Church  of,  299,  300-303 

Ordination,  56-57 


Orton,  Professor  Edward,  251 

Parker,  Theodore,  211,  217 
Peapack,  New  Jersey,  17 
Personality,  337 
Post,  Rev.  Zenas,  385 
Preface  by  W.  S.  Harwood,  5 

Relation    to    students,  260-262, 

341,  352 
Ross,  Elder  John,  letter  to,  272- 
287 

Scholarship  of  Austin  Craig,  374 

Smith,  Gerrit,  87-88 

Stafford  Convention,  215  ;  address 

at,  216 
Sterrett,  A.  McD.,  letter  from,  76 
Summerbell,  B.  F.,  67 
Summerbell,  Rev.  N.,  371 

Weston,  Rev.  J.  B.,  245,  369 
Whittier,  John  G.,  50,  51 
Wright,  R.  J.,  28,  39,  40,  61,  62 
Writings  of  Austin  Craig,  list  of, 

389-391 
Wyman,  Rev.  O.  T.,  369 

YouMANS,  Dr.,  26 
Youmans,    Professor   E.    L.,   263; 
letter  from,  386 


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